Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

Longtime mixed martial arts fans will remember that the UFC was not born in the bright lights and glamour of Las Vegas. Although that town serves as the organization's home these days, UFC made its 1993 debut in Denver, Colorado.

It's been a long time since the fights have been a mile high. Wednesday's UFC Fight Night brings the company back to the state for the first time since 1995's UFC 8.

The event will move north to neighboring Broomfield, and feature a 12-fight card highlighted by seven lightweight bouts.

The main event matches up a pair of Massachusetts' natives: Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon.

Florian is best known for fighting Sean Sherk to a decision loss in an October 2006 UFC lightweight title bout. Lauzon, meanwhile, made a brilliant UFC debut in September 2006 when he knocked out former lightweight champ Jens Pulver, and he also performed well on a recent edition of The Ultimate Fighter.

The match is considered an important one in the careers of both men. With the B.J. Penn-Sean Sherk title match on the horizon, a top contender will soon be named, and both men are hoping to make their case.

Florian is the favorite in the matchup by virtue of his experience in fighting bigger names, but Lauzon is embracing the role of underdog.

Video   Lauzon ready for Florian Joe Lauzon talks about his upcoming bout against Kenny Florian. NBC Sports

"I think on paper, Kenny outmaches me," Lauzon said. "He's a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I've always trained without the gi, so there's no ranking system. Technically he's a black belt and I'm a white belt. It's not exactly like that, but that's how it looks on paper... . I think I'm the underdog on paper, but I don't mind it. If I win it's great because I wasn't supposed to. If I lose, whatever. I have no pressure on me."

Florian is considered the superior striker and ground technician, but Lauzon should have the edge in wrestling. Should he put Florian on his back, he also excels at the ground-and-pound game.

Conditioning should not be a problem for either man, who both emphasize it in their training and seemed unfazed about fighting in altitude for the first time. Each man arrived a couple weeks early to acclimate to the difference.

"I passed out as soon as I left the plane, man, it was unbelievable," Florian joked before saying he treats it as a mental game and trains as though he's at sea level.

Lauzon, meanwhile, says that he noticed a slight difference in recovery time in between rounds while sparring but doesn't expect it to bother him during the fight.

Also featured on the card is popular light-heavyweight Houston Alexander, who hopes to return to his winning ways after losing to Thiago Silva at UFC 78.

Alexander, who is fighting James Irvin, took no chances with the altitude differential. One of his fight sponsors is Colorado Altitude Training, and they gave "the Assassin" an altitude training tent and a running mask that are designed to simulate the elevation.

Because of the wealth of talent on the card, it is possible some well-known fighters like Clay Guida, Frankie Edgar and Manny Gamburyan might not be seen on the TV portion of the card, which airs beginning at 7 pm ET and will run three hours.

As a reminder to viewers, the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, starring Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin as coaches, debuts immediately following Fight Night.

Full card
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Jeff Cox vs. Manny Gamburyan
Samy Schiavo vs. Clay Guida
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer

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