Both main-event bouts Saturday at UFC 135 in Denver — a pay-per- view show that likely will be one of the most-watched mixed martial arts events of the year — pit established veterans against up-and-coming stars.
It’s a fitting bit of scheduling, letting the old and the new battle it out. The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Denver with a top card for the first time since UFC 1 (1993, McNichols Sports Arena) and UFC 2 (1994, Mammoth Gardens).
Colorado remains a kind of birthplace for the UFC, which has come a long way since its start.
In 1995, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt Hughes had yet to turn professional. Since then, they have become two of the most celebrated fighters in the UFC. At light heavyweight, Jackson (32-8) will go against Jon Jones (13-1), who in 1993 was just 6.
Hughes (46-8) fights Josh Koscheck (17-5) in a welterweight bout. Koscheck, asked about his memories of those long-ago Denver fights, said this week, “I didn’t even know what the UFC was back then.”
Of course, when the cage door closes Saturday, history will mean nothing — instead, personal grudges and title aspirations will surface.
“I’m very, very aware of why I’m here,” said Jones, the youngest champ in UFC history (23) when he beat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March.
“My job isn’t to out-talk him,” Jones said. “I mean, you are talking about an opponent who threatens and harasses literally every opponent in his career.”
Jackson, a two-time champ who lost his title in 2008 to Forrest Griffin, responded to Jones, “I treat him the way I treat him because I’ve got no respect for him.”
In the co-main event, Koscheck will enter against Hughes with just 19 days’ notice. Hughes, a former two-time champ who defended his belt seven times, already is in the UFC Hall of Fame.
The fights put a spotlight on Denver.
“This is a breakthrough fight,” UFC president Dana White said. “There are fights that casual fans are interested in. But then you have the fights that everybody is interested in.
“There are celebrities flying in for the fight, which is more difficult than in L.A. or Las Vegas. It shows the interest in these fights.”
UFC 135
A 10-fight card at Pepsi Center on Saturday, starting at 7 p.m. and airing on pay-per-view.
Main event: Jon Jones (13-1) vs. Quinton Jackson (32-8), light heavyweight title bout
Co-main event: Matt Hughes (46-8) vs. Josh Koscheck (17-5), welterweights
Other bouts
Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton, heavyweights
Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi, lightweights
Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt, heavyweights
Preliminary bouts on Spike TV
Tony Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley, lightweights
Nick Ring vs. Tim Boetsch, middleweights
Non-televised bouts (starting at 4 p.m.)
James Te Huna vs. Ricardo Romero, light heavyweights
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Cole Escovedo, bantamweights
Junior Assunção vs. Eddie Yagin, featherweights
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Stay on the couch
No. 6 with a bullet.
As Mike Klis pointed out in this week’s Broncos Mailbag, CBS’s airing of the Cincinnati-Denver game last week drew out the network’s seventh-string broadcast crew of Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein.
A competent duo, for sure, but the game fell down the list of top commentators likely because each team tied for second-to-last in the NFL last season.
This week, the Broncos jump up to CBS’s No. 6 broadcast team (out of eight) when they face the Titans in Tennessee.
Bill Macatee will call play-by-play and Steve Tasker will handle color commentary when the game kicks off at 11 a.m. Denver time.
The Broncos, by the way, are aiming for their 400th regular-season victory as a franchise.
Get off the couch
Working it off.
Nothing wurst than running on a full stomach. But when you’re done hogging down brat- wurst, rindswurst, knackwurst and bockwurst at Octoberfest in Denver’s Larimer Square, work off the extras Sunday in Longmont.
Competitors in the Oktoberfest Sprint Triathlon will swim 750 meters, bike 12.4 miles and run 3.1 miles around Union Reservoir starting at 8 a.m.
It’s the final event in this season’s Colorado Triathlon Tour. And it’s the fourth year of the Oktoberfest leg.
Check for info.
What we’d’d like to see
Needed: Rapid reversal.
The time is ripe for the Rapids to get out of the valleys and atop the peaks.
The Rapids have lost four consecutive games and are winless in their past six. They haven’t won an MLS game since Aug. 13.
But that previous victory was an impressive one — a come-from-behind topping of the Earthquakes in San Jose. Jeff Larentowicz’s goal in the 72nd minute, a low free kick through a wall of defenders, proved the winner.
On Saturday at 7 p.m., the Rapids will play the second of a head-to-head season series against San Jose, this time in Commerce City. At left, Chris Wondolowski’s 10 goals this season lead San Jose and rank fifth in MLS.
The Rapids remain in second place in the wild-card playoff race (41 points) but just five points from falling out.
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