Two Minnesota fighters compete at UFC 106 on Saturday

While all the attention this week has been on Brock Lesnar, who was supposed to main event tomorrow night's UFC 106, Minnesota's other badass Brock - Brock Larson - has been quietly preparing to do battle on the show.

For Larson, this has been the norm for awhile now. The 27-3 fighter has slowly risen in the ranks to become one of the top welterweights in the world, while all the talk is about another Brock in the state.

Larson, 32, from Brainerd, MN, will be taking on Brian Foster (12-4) a H.I.T. Squad fighter originally from Muldrow, OK. on the undercard of Saturday's show, live from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Pay Per View.

Larson is looking to come back from a disappointing three-round decision loss last September at UFC Fight Night 19 to Mike Pierce.

"The judges did the right job," Larson recently said in an interview on MMAJunkie.com. "But (if) you go 15 minutes and never get punched in the face, it's hard to believe that you can lose, well."

"This day in MMA I didn't think it was possible to sit in guard and not do much," Larson told the website. "You don't really train to have a guy hug your hips.

Foster, Larson's opponent, is also coming off a loss. Foster lost in his UFC debut to Rick Story by submission at UFC 103 back in September.

Also on the card, former University of Minnesota wrestler Jacob Volkmann will be making his UFC debut against 11-1 fighter Paulo Thiago.

Volkmann (9-0) trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy along with Brock Larson, and was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American and a 2004 Big Ten Champion wrestler at the University.

In the two years he's been fighting he has seven first-round submissions in his nine victories. When he isn't training, he owns and operates Volkmann Chiropractic in White Bear Lake. He also volunteers his time to coach the White Bear High School wrestling team and the Ice Bear's, a youth wrestling club for kids in grades K-6 according to his website.

His opponent is coming off a three round decision loss to another former Big Ten wrestler, Jon Fitch, who was the wrestling captain at Purdue.

This is a tough fight for Volkmann, Thiago is a very talented fighter. If he can use his wrestling to control the fight though, it is very winnable.

Brock Lesnar is home from the hospital and recuperating in Alexandria. According to those close to Lesnar, he will be waiting until he is fully recovered to decide if he will fight again. According to UFC President Dana White, Lesnar has had a hole in his intestine for up to a year.

"The (stuff) was leaking into his stomach. That's what was causing him so much pain. That and he had an abscesses." White told Dan Wentzel of Yahoo! Sports. "The doctor told him that he hasn't been right for a year. His immune system has been trying to fight this thing, and that's why he was susceptible to getting sick."

If you are looking for something to do tonight and you are a fan of both MMA and boxing, Seconds Out Promotions will be having an event at the St Paul Armory, right by the capitol, tonight at 8PM featuring local boxer Caleb Traux (13-0) in the main event against Kerry Hope (12-2) from all the way across the pond in the U.K. Traux will be led to the ring by Goldy Gopher. Also on the card, in the MMA portion of the show, will be former Augsburg wrestler and four-time Division III Champion Marcus LeVesseur (9-3).

If you are in Mankato, Brutal Promotions has a show at the Kato Ballroom tonight at 7:30. The main event features former MInnesota State University, Mankato wrestler Josh Janousek taking on Nick Almen.

Here is the card for that show: