MMA returns to the Target Center with 10 UFC vets Saturday night

The biggest Mixed Martial Arts event in Minnesota since UFC 87 comes to the Target Center this Saturday night.

The event, XKL's "Evolution II: Mayhem in Minneapolis" will feature 10 former UFC fighters, including two former challengers for the UFC heavyweight title going at it in the main event. That fight features St Paul native Jeff "The Snowman" Monson (33-9) facing off against Owatonna's Travis "Diesel" Wiuff (58-14).

Monson vs. Wiuff is a matchup of two heavyweights who are both accomplished wrestlers but neither are afraid to stand and bang. Monson was a Pac-10 wrestling champion at Oregon State, and Wiuff was a two-time junior college All-American at Rochester Community & Technical College.

"He's had like 70 fights. It's a little odd that our paths haven't crossed before. We've fought on a couple of the same shows before," Monson recently told Ben Pherson at mnmmanews.com. "Travis has a lot of good wins. He's got a good wrestling background, and he's got quick hands. I know he has great conditioning. I mean, this is a tough fight. He's been on all the big shows, fought in the UFC a lot of times. The guy has (60 wins), and that's a lot."

Monson has faced some of the best fighters in the world, including former UFC champions Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffith, Ricco Rodriguez, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia and last seasons Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson.

Former UFC fighter Derrick Noble (26-13-1), who fights out of Charleston, Minn., and trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, will be taking on former UFC vet Drew Fickett (36-13) in the semi-main event. Fickett is looking to snap a five-fight losing streak when he steps into the XKL cage on Saturday night. Fickett was once considered one of the best welterweights in the world and started his career with a 34-5 record. Since being released by UFC and then Strikeforce, he's gone 3-8 though. He looks to turn things around after taking almost a year off to get things back on track.

The undercard of Saturday's show features two more local UFC vets, former UFC/WEC fighter Brock Larson and former UFC welterweight champion Dave Menne.

In his first fight since being released by UFC, Brock Larson (27-4) will take on Iowa's Brian Green (20-13). "Brock has been training three times a day, six days a week for the last three months.

"He's treating this no different than any other fight, regardless if it was a UFC title fight or a fight in his backyard in Brainerd," said matchmaker Gavin Rydell. Larson lost his last two fights in the UFC and is looking to get things back on track and back to the big show with a win over Green.

Also on the card, two former UFC heavyweights will be slugging it out when Bloomington's Brad Kohler takes on Cedar Falls, Iowa native Travis Fulton. These two had a legenday fight in the early days of MMA that went over 50 minutes, and this is a rematch that has been 10 years in the making. Fulton has over 200 fights in his career, while Kohler just recently came out of retirment, winning his first fight in six years back in Feburary.

In all there are 10 fights scheduled, including a women's fight featuring local up-and-comer Shana Olsen. Great seats are still available at ticketmaster.com and for a more in-depth look at a all of the fights, check out Pherson's analysis at mnmmanews.com.

Bell time is 7:30 PM. The entire card is: Travis "Diesel" Wiuff vs. Jeff "The Snowman" Monson, Drew Fickett (UFC vet) vs. Derrick Noble (UFC vet), Brock Larson (UFC vet) vs. Brian Green, Shana Olsen vs. Yoko Takahashi, Matt Delanoit vs. Ray Steinbeiss, Brad Kohler (UFC vet) vs. Travis Fulton (UFC vet), Nate Schut vs. Brian Geraghty (UFC vet) and Isaiah Larson vs. Brendan Seguin (WEC vet)