Two title bouts, two spiders, one former champion, and the mystery of the outdoors is what we can expect on Saturday. UFC 112: Invincible will make history not only because it’s the first UFC event held in Abu Dhabi but it will also be the first UFC event held outdoors. There isn’t exactly much fear of rain spoiling the event but the wind is causing some concerns for fighters who won’t have to just worry about a finger in the eye but maybe some sand as well.

Silva Vs. Maia – Middleweight Title

The main event of the evening (or morning considering the time difference) will see Anderson “The Spider” Silva defend his Middleweight Crown against Demian Maia. Maia is considered the favourite if it goes to the ground but that’s easier said than done against Silva who has the superior standup (far superior standup… make that ridiculously far superior standup). Let’s just hope we don’t see a repeat of last year at UFC 97 in Montreal when Silva fought Thales Leites (who also was considered to have superior Jiu-Jitsu skills) and all Leites did was fall on his back for five rounds trying to trap Silva in his guard. “The Spider’s” too smart to fall for it and a game plan like that would provide us with another a less than thrilling main event.

Penn Vs. Edgar – Lightweight Title

“Good fighters win decisions, great fighters finish.” That’s what BJ Penn had to say when he was talking about his last title defense against Diego Sanchez (while probably taking a jab at GSP). Give Penn credit, of his 15 wins in his MMA career 6 have come by submission and 6 have come by knockout (or TKO). He’s as dominant at 155 as GSP is at welterweight and Anderson Silva is middleweight (or any other weight class he decides to fight in). Frankie Edgar is a good wrestler and wrestling has beaten “The Prodigy” before but that was GSP and Matt Hughes and they’re great wrestlers. I don’t think Edgar will be “The Answer.”

Hughes Vs. Gracie

This is Renzo Gracie’s octagon debut and first fight since he beat Frank Shamrock at EliteXC: Destiny two and a half years ago. Matt “The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History” Hughes hasn’t fought in almost a year after edging out Matt Serra at UFC 98 last May. Can Renzo Gracie beat two over the hill former UFC champions in a row? OK, not the tag line the UFC’s going with, but I think it’s more honest than trying to manufacture some great Hughes/Gracie rivalry; it was one fight against Royce four years ago that wasn’t that close, hopefully this one will be.

Grove Vs. Muñoz

Also on the card is The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove taking on “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Muñoz. For his sake, let’s hope Muñoz fares better than he did the last time he fought a contestant from Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter cause when he fought Matt Hamill he was knocked-out so bad he was taken out on a stretcher and found himself in middleweight.

Pretty wicked card on paper until you realize it’s neither live nor free, but I guess two title bouts don’t come cheap.