While UFC 100 will take place on July 11, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the state of Ohio will have a strong presence at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Three Ohio natives are currently slated for the UFC 100 fight card including Mark Coleman, Mac Danzig and C.B. Dollaway.

A former Miami University wrestler and later Ohio State wrestler, Coleman won the collegiate National Championship as a heavyweight for Ohio State. In 1997, Mark Coleman became the UFC’s first Heavyweight Champion winning the title at UFC 12. He lost his title at UFC 14 and left the UFC after three straight losses only to return to the UFC in 2009 at UFC 93 where he lost to Shogun Rua. Now the 44-year old Coleman (15-9) is set to face Stephan Bonnar (11-5) at UFC 100 in one of the strongest preliminary bouts UFC fans have ever seen.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Mac Danzig today fights out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Danzig was the winner of the The Ultimate Fighter 6, is currently under contract with the UFC and recently lost to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17. Danzig was the MMA national amateur MMA champion, the Gladiator Challenge lightweight champion, IFC lightweight champion, and was a 5-time King of the Cage world lightweight champion. Since his win over Tommy Speer at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, Danzig has struggled going 1-2 with losses to Clay Guida and Neer. Danzig (19-6-1) will face Jim Miller (13-2) at UFC 100 in hopes of getting back on the winning side in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

C.B. Dollaway is a native of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, where he was a State Champion wrestler at 171 pounds for Northmor High School. Dollaway wrestled at Colby Junior College before transferring to Arizona State and becoming an All-American wrestler. Dollaway earned a spot on The Ultimate Fighter 7 and advanced to the semifinals where he lost to eventual TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah. When Jesse Taylor was forced to leave the show Dollaway fought for the right to face Sadollah and won the boutbut lost again to Sadollah in the finale. Dollaway has since won both of his UFC fights and at 9-2 in his MMA career, he will face Tom Lawlor (5-1-1) at UFC 100.

So there you have it. Ohio will indeed have quite a presence at UFC 100 in Vegas. UFC 100 predictions have been posted and the results will be posted immediately after each fight on the evening of July 11 over at ProFighting-fans.com. Check back for more UFC updates, interviews, fighter profiles, fight predictions & previews, fight results and more.

Rich Franklin knows what it’s like to be in the main event as a fighter in the UFC. The former UFC Middleweight Champion has fought approximately seven times in a UFC main event in his career, and he adds to that number tonight as he faces Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva at a catch weight of 195 pounds. Much has been made of Franklin moving up to 205 pounds to compete as a Light Heavyweight. While he is still likely the UFC’s #2 Middleweight behind only Champion Anderson Silva, there is little to no interest for Dana White to match him with Silva for a 3rd time.

UFC 99 takes place tonight in Cologne, Germany with Rich Franklin vs Wanderlei Silva headlining the fight card. UFC 99 results will be updated throughout the night over at the top MMA fan site online, ProFighting-fans.com.Other scheduled fights include two intriguing Heavyweight battles as undefeated Cain Velasquez face veteran Cheick Kongo and Mirko Cro Cop makes his return to the Octagon to face Mostapha Al Turk.