Rua weighed in at 204.5 pounds.

Machida has weighed in to a UFC light heavyweight fight as low as 199-pounds and is undefeated, however he has been more likely to win by stoppage when weighing 204 pounds or more the day before a fight indicating his weight does affect his performance.  Machida might expect a stand-up war versus the crisp striker Rua and therefore want to be lighter on his feet.

On the flips side of the coin, welterweight prospect “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (7-2) weighed 176 pounds, five pounds over the welterweight limit, for his fight versus eighth-ranked “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2), who weighed in at the limit.  The two agreed to fight regardless of Johnson’s apparent disregard for the rules and disrespect for Yoshida.

Lightweights “Dentis” Josh Neer (25-8-1) and Gleison Tibau (16-5) both missed weight in their matchup.  Neer weight 156.5 pounds and Tibau weighe 157 pounds.

The rest of the card made weight:

Cain Velasquez (6-0) 238 pounds v Ben Rothwell (26-6) 265 pounds
“Daddy” Joe Stevenson (30-9 155.5 pounds v “King” Spencer Fisher (23-4) 155 pounds
“Darth” Ryan Bader (7-0) 205 pounds v “Red” Eric Schafer (12-4-2) 205.5 pounds
“HD” Pat Barry (2-2) 237 pounds v Antoni Hardonk (8-5)  249.5 pounds
Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked middleweight Chael Sonnen (22-10-1) 185 pounds v “Thunder” Yushin Okami (23-4) 185 pounds
“El Conquistador” Jorge Rivera (16-7) 185 pounds v Rosedale Reaper” Rob Kimmons (21-4) 185 pounds
Kyle Kingsbury (8-2) 205.5 pounds v Razak Al-Hassan (7-1) 204.5 pounds
Chase Gormley (2-0) 262 pounds v Stefan Struve (13-2) 243.5 pounds

Slotted instead are the main event between Fighters.com and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (15-0) and sixth-ranked “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-3) and co-main event between heavyweights Cain Velasquez (6-0) and “Big” Ben Rothwell (26-6) as well as the following matchups:

Gleison Tibau (16-5) v “Dentist” Josh Neer (25-8-1)
“Daddy” Joe Stevenson (30-9) v “King” Spencer Fisher (23-4)
“Rumble” Anthony Johnson (7-2) v “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3)

The Sonnen/Okami matchup could make the PPV broadcast if those fights run short and the Sonnen/Okami fight is both exciting and fits into the remaining time.

Okami is 7-1 in the Octagon and holds the distinction of being the only UFC fighter to hold a win over Fighters.com and UFC Middleweight Champion “Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4), albeit by disqualification at Rumble on the Rock 8 in Honolulu in 2006.  Okami’s only loss in the UFC was a tight UD to Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked middleweight “Ace” Rich Franklin (26-5) at UFC 72 in Belfast in June 2007.

Slated for the undercard with Sonnen v Okami is:

Antoni Hardonk (8-5) v “HD” Pat Barry (2-2)
“El Conquistador” Jorge Rivera (16-7) v “Rosedale Reaper” Rob Kimmons (21-4)
“Darth” Ryan Bader (7-0) v “Red” Eric Schafer (12-4-2)
Kyle Kingsbury (8-2) v Razak Al-Hassan (7-1)
Stefan Struve (13-2) v Chase Gormley (2-0)

French heavyweight Cheick Kongo (12-4-1) will meet UFC newcomer Mustapha al Turk (1-0), “The Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-2) will meet Reese Andy (7-2) in a light heavyweight bout.

Other bouts announced were “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-8) versus “Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1), Antoni Hardonk (7-4) versus Mark Burch (10-2), and Dan Evensen (10-5) versus Pat Barry (1-0).

Kongo defeated Evensen with a first-round TKO at UFC 87 in August.

Al Turk defeated Gary Turner (3-1-1) by first-round submission due to strikes in March.

Hamill is hoping to come back from a third-round TKO loss to second-ranked middleweight “Ace” Rich Franklin (25-3) at UFC 88 in September.

Andy is also looking to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to “The Truth” Brandon Vera (7-3) in July.

Chonan won a split decision over “Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-8) at UFC 88.

Blackburn TKO’d James Giboo (8-3) in round two in July.

Hardonk defeated Eddie Sanchez (8-2) with a second-round TKO at UFC 85 in June.

Burch, a UFC newcomer, TKO’d Alex Rozman  (0-4) in round one in May.

UFC rookie Barry won his last fight in May with a first-round TKO of Mike Delaney (26-17-2).

UFC 92 is headlined by a title fight between Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin (16-4) and “Sugar” Rashad Evans (12-0-1), a bout between second-ranked heavyweight “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (44-4-1) and Frank Mir (11-3) for the interim title, and a light heavyweight match-up between second-ranked “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (26-7) and sixth-ranked “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1).

Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked middleweight “Thunder” Yushin Okami (22-4) versus “Boogeyman” Dean Lister (11-5) and “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) versus Mike Massenzio (11-2) are also on the card.

Hughes stalked Alves for a takedown at the first bell, settling for bottom position by pulling guard, but never finding the submission opportunity he thought he could force.

Again, Hughes took the Brazilian to the mat mid-way through the first and smothered the kickboxer; but, Alves utilized butterfly guard to neutralize Hughes’s offense.

The only damage done on the mat in round one was after the confident “Pitbull” bulldogged the veteran to the mat and hammered a crevice in Hughes’s nose with an elbow strike.

Hughes, like Gracie at UFC 60, was impotent. Alves wasn’t falling for the tried and true tricks, wasn’t physically overwhelmed by the stocky farm boy from rural Illinois, and wasn’t intimidated by the future Hall of Famer’s legacy.

The second round was short; the end poignant.

Hughes ducked for the takedown that’s served as a sure-shot for ten years; and, Alves flew the distance between him and Hughes, colliding into Hughes’s right jaw with his left knee.

One punch later and referee Herb Dean waved off the fight, and, officially, the Matt Hughes era.

Alves never doubted the outcome, but remained humble while pleading from the Octagon, “Mr. Dana White, I’ve been a good boy, please give me a title shot!”

“He got me, no doubt,” Hughes admitted.

For Hughes, there remains a grudge match with fourth-ranked “Terror” Matt Serra (9-5), then a lot of prayer and consultation with his family for the proudly Christian husband and father of two.

UFC 85′s co-main event featured a pair of UFC heavyweight title contenders, seventh-ranked“Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum(11-3-1) and perennial Pinoy prospect “The Truth” Brandon Vera (8-2), ending in a controversy that’s much ado about nothing.

Werdum quite simply spanked “The Truth” from full mount to a first round TKO at 4:40.

“There was 15 seconds left [in round one]. Let me take my ass whupping and let’s go to a second round,” complained Vera.

But, that’s not the rule Octagon referees are instructed to enforce. Vera had made no attempt to improve his position or fight back while mounted by “Vai Cavalo” and he knows clamming-up and waiting for the round to end is not an “intelligent defense.”

After two exciting finishes, Werdum moved passed his boring Octagon debut versus fourth-ranked “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski(12-5) into the UFC top contender’s spot.

After being outsized for the second straight fight, Vera should seriously comtemplate a move to 205-pounds.

Take a cue from “The Count” Michael Bisping (16-1), who again ran roughshod over an opponent in his new weight class of 185-pounds.

Canadian “Dooms Day” Jason Day (17-6) withered under the pressure of the big lights in London and big fists of Britain’s Count of The Cage, Bisping, in a first-round TKO at 3:42.

“People think I have no wrestling, no ground game. Have a bit of faith!” Bisping said after taking Day to the mat twice before pounding him out.

Day was intended to serve a challenge on the ground to Bisping, who’ll now look for bigger match-ups in the middleweight division.

And, “Quick” Mike Swick (12-2) propelled himself into contender talk in his new weight class of 170-pounds after ending “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis‘s (14-4) eleven-fight win streak in a dominating UD.

Davis never overcame 6’1″ Swick’s height and reach advantage, neutralizing Davis’s powerful boxing combos.

When Swick took Davis to the mat, “Quick’s” dynamic assault sealed the 29-27 times three unanimous decision which left Davis with a deep crevice on his left cheek.

Middleweight Thales Leites (13-1) won a split decision on point deductions over Nathan Marquardt (26-8-2).

Leites floored Marquardt with a straight right in the first round, which was later avenged with a right uppercut from Marquardt that sent Leites to the fence.

Marquardt dominated the final two rounds with G’n'P that broke Leites’s nose in the second round.

However, Marquardt was deducted a point in the second round for an illegal knee to Leites’s head while Leites’s knees were still touching the mat.

In the third, referee Herb Dean deducted another point from Marquardt for an elbow to the back of the head after Dean repeatedly warned the former title challenger. Upon replay, the strike seemed to land on the side of Leites’s head, not the back.

One judged scored the fight 28-27 for Marquardt; but, the other two agreed with Fighters.com with the score of 28-27 for Leites.

In the events most exciting fight, “Handsome” Matt Wiman (10-3) upset lightweight prospect Thiago Tavares (13-2), leaving Tavares slumped at the cage after a barrage of Wiman punches knocked Tavares out at 1:57 of round two.

Xtreme Couture kickboxer “Hitman” Martin Kampmann (16-2) tapped middleweight veteran “El Conquistador” Jorge Rivera (15-7) in a guillotine choke at 2:44 of round one.

UFC debuting Kevin Burns (6-1) earned “Submission of the Night” with a triangle choke of American Top Team “Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-7) at 2:53 of round two.

“Banha” Luis Arthur Cane (8-1) TKO’d “Punisher” Jason Lambert (23-8) at 2:07 of round one in a light heavyweight fight.

Brit welterweight Paul Taylor (9-3-1) won a split decision over Frenchman “Joker” Jess Liaudin (12-10).

Dutch heavyweight Antoni Hardonk (7-4) TKO’d Eddie Sanchez (8-2) at 4:15 of round two.