What motivation does he have for this fight? Win or lose, he gets what he wants, a chance to beat the crap out of Matt Serra. Hughes is one of the most dominant champions in UFC history and one of the best wrestlers to transition to MMA.I’m interested to see where Matt Hughes’ head is at. This would be best casescenario for fans and the UFC alike as the fight would be a stand-up clinic.On the other hand, Matt Hughes is coming off of a complete annihilation at the hands of GSP. Alves showed his Muay Thai skills and made the ref step in to stop the fight and save Parisyan.If Alves gets past Hughes, he should be looking at a title shot He more than likely would face off with the Dynamic GSP. If Hughes wins…well it doesn’t matter because said Dana White promised him Matt Serra.Alves is a member of the American Top Team and has a background in Muay Thai and a BJJ blackbelt.He’s punishing striker who’s last three fights have been TKO’s His last fight was against top ten ranked Karo Parisyan. If Alves wins, he should be considered the number one contender and would get the winner of GSP and Fitch.

He would probaly have to get through one more top-tier guy but, after that, would be a logical choice to be considered for a shot at Anderson Silva.Many people believe that if anyone is going to beat Silva it’s going to be a ground fighter like Leites, Damian Maia, or Ricardo Almeida.Hughes vs AlvesThe main event has some very interesting implications. Marquardt is a BJJ black belt under Ricardo Murgel and currently trains with Greg Jackson, who runs one of the best camps in all of MMA.If Leites can beat Marquardt, it immediately puts him in the top five Middleweights. The great one is a former Middleweight Pancrase champion and has held the belt several times. Leites is a highly skilled ground fighter and has finished seven of his twelve fights by submission.Leites will face his biggest challenge to date when he faces off with Nate “The Great” Marquardt. Leites was supposed to fight Marquardt at UFC 81, but  he had to pull out because of a broken hand. MarquardtThales Leites sports a 12-1 record with his only loss coming at the hands of the above mentioned Kampmann by decision.

If he proves he’s healthy, he may get it after all.Leites vs. The UFC and Joe Silva were going to give him a shot at the big-time. Kampmann has a ton of up-side and the UFC wants to give him a challenge, but a guy that he should be able to beat.If Kampmann beats Rivera, look for him to start moving quickly up the ranks of the Middleweight division. Unfortunately for Rivera, I think he is nothing more than a tune-up match for Kampmann.