UFC 48: Payback Preview

Three rematches, two of them heavily immersed in controversy, and the fight for the heavyweight title headline a promising card.

No more talking. No more excuses. Let's just shut the gate and settle this. The cage's temperature will surely come to a boil as the Phil Baroni-Evan Tanner and Dennis Hallman-Frank Trigg rematches commence ... and draw to a close. Now I don't expect them to pass a peace pipe after the Ken Shamrock-Kimo Leopoldo fight either, but these first two bouts have bad blood written all over them.

With the Ken and Kimo bout, it is simply a case of the new UFC reaching out to the old UFC fans. This card also features two very tough Canadian fighters, a South African wrestler and a trio of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters in middleweight and welterweight bouts. And we cannot forget the UFC Heavyweight title is on the line yet again as former champion Tim Sylvia takes on top contender Frank Mir.

The full card is as follows:

American Jiu-Jitsu Academy fighter Curtis Stout comes back to the octagon after three years away to face South African wrestler Trevor Prangley.

TriStar Gym fighter Georges St. Pierre returns to the Octagon to face Bellmore Kickoxing Academy fighter Jay Hieron.

Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter Matt Serra tangles with Canada's Ivan Menjivar.

Former UFC Welterweight Champion and Miletich Martial Arts team member Matt Hughes battles Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylist Renato Verissimo.

Victory Athletics fighter Dennis Hallman goes toe-to-toe with "real American wrestler" Frank Trigg in a long-awaited rematch.

Phil Baroni and Team Quest's Evan Tanner pick up where they left off at UFC 45.

In the co-headliner, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia from the Miletich camp faces Las Vegas Combat Club fighter Frank Mir.

And in the other co-headliner, Lion's Den leader Ken Shamrock faces Hawaiian jiu-jitsu fighter Kimo Leopoldo in a rematch of the UFC 8 Superfight.