Mixed martial arts returns to Germany this weekend for UFC 122, the first time the franchise has staged an event in the country since UFC 99 was met with heavy media criticism back in June 2009.

Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami will headline the event in a fight that will determine the No.1 contender for the middleweight belt.

Although the main event is not as tantalising as the Lesnar-Velasquez title fight, or the upcoming main events at UFC 123 and 124, it still is an important fight with the winner set to face the victor of the Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort fight in the new year.

Both Marquardt and Okami have recorded losses to Chael Sonnen, the man that came within two minutes of beating Silva at UFC 117, before being submitted via triangle choke. Since their respective fights with Sonnen, both fighters have gone onto record wins and will no doubt be looking to continue this trend come Saturday.

Marquardt was confident that he would defeat Okami when he spoke to the media from Oberhausen, Germany, yesterday.

"I just feel this is my time. Yushin is a top fighter, he's a dangerous opponent and has unique takedowns from Judo, and is well rounded. I feel that I am also well rounded, but am better at all aspects of the game," the American said.

Marquardt also talked about his loss to both Sonnen and Silva before predicting what round he would finish his Japanese opponent in: "I have worked very hard to improve since I lost to Anderson and to Sonnen. I am a much better fighter now. I am the better finisher by far, and I will finish him probably in the third round."

Marquardt gave a clear indication that he is confident about his title hopes and revealed that he has long aspired for a rematch with Silva after his loss to the champion at UFC 73.

"The reason I took this fight on such short notice is because it's for a title shot. I got the call a week after my last fight and I was looking forward to spending time with my wife and baby. But to win the title is my goal and my dream so I took the fight."

"Once I win the title I will hold it long enough for people to talk about me being one of the best. That's why I'm here and that's what I am going to achieve."

Okami however will provide a formidable opponent to the American with the Japanese superstars recording an impressive 25 wins with only five losses.

Okami has also been training with Sonnen, the man that took Marquardt down with will when they met, and dominated him for three rounds. Therefore Okami should have the fight intel and game plan to counter Marquardt's heavy hands.

The UFC's previous venture into Germany last June provoked a media firestorm, which brought heavy criticism from government ministers and was only allowed to continue after local authorities banned minors from attending the show. Several months later, the Bavarian state officials banned a Munich-based sports television network from showing any UFC content.

In response to these restrictions UFC President Dana White was very optimistic about the UFC's future in Germany

"We don't curl up and climb into the closet when things don't go good. We're going to come out guns blazing. We're going to keep going. Again, our job is to build the sport, and we're not going to stop."

"Not getting TV isn't going to stop us. We're going to keep going. We can't get into Ontario, and we're opening an office there. So it doesn't bother us. One thing we don't do is back down."

Therefore UFC 122 will go ahead with several other big fights taking place at the Konig Pilsener Arena.

Jorge Rivera and the Italian Stallion Alessio Sakara will do battle in what could possibly be fight of the night with both fighters showing knockout power and thus a stand-up battle will do doubt ensue.

Sakara has been in the UFC for five years and will quite possibly be the face of the company's push into Italy late next year, but a win is a must here if those plans are to come to fruition.

Home-crowd hero Dennis Siver is one of two Germans on the main card and will take on the Brit Andre Winner. This will be a battle that should have its fair share of fireworks. Winner will have to look out for Siver's spinning back kick that has finished two fights in his past four outings.

Siver's countrymen Peter Sobotta will take on Ultimate Fighter season-seven winner Amir Sadollah in what is a must-win for Sadollah. The American is widely renowned for his ability and potential but he has been unable to live up to the expectation so far in his career.

The last fight on the main card is between the Krzysztof ‘the Polish experiment' Soszynski and Goran Reljic. Soszynski has done countless television and radio interviews in Poland, but will have to leave all the media hype behind if he wants to beat Reljic come Saturday.