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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC's debut event in Australia is continuing to fill out this week with reports on two additional bouts for the February 21st event.
The first is a middleweight bout with implications for the Title picture, as Joe Ferraro at Sportsnet.ca reports that Nate Marquardt will face off against Chael Sonnen on the event at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
The other bout is a light heavyweight match up between Stephen Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski; that according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.
Marquardt was awaiting a likely clash with Dan Henderson before contract talks broke down between Hendo and the UFC. He is coming off a spectacular 21 second knockout of Demian Maia this August, and another win likely gets him a second crack at UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.
Sonnen solidified his standing as a top ten middleweight with a dominant three round decision victory against Yushin Okami at UFC 104 last month, and a win over Marquardt would be a gigantic leap up the standings.
Bonnar and Soszynski will both be looking to rebound from losses. Soszynski lost for the first official time inside the Octagon this August, by decision to Saturday's UFC 105 headliner Brandon Vera. Bonnar dropped his second straight bout, this one to Mark Coleman, at UFC 100 in July.
UFC 110 is set to take place from Sydney, Australia on February 21st, and is expected to feature a bout between Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama as well as a heavyweight bout between Mirko Cro Cop and Ben Rothwell.
Penick's Analysis: Well, it's highly disappointing that the UFC and Henderson couldn't get something figured out to get him into that fight with Marquardt, as it could have been an absolutely excellent middleweight bout. That said, Sonnen's going to be a formidable opponent and another victory for Marquardt should solidify his deserving of another shot at the Middleweight Title. For Soszynski and Bonnar, it's a good match up for both against a tough opponent. Bonnar needs a win more than Krzysztof, but Soszynski's been a game fighter thus far in the UFC and will be a very tough guy for Bonnar to get past. This 110 event is shaping into a very nice card for the Australian fans.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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