by Chad Dundas, MMARated.com

The UFC worked backward this week in announcing a trio of fights for December’s UFC 92 card on Thursday, just one day after the company went public with a pair of bouts for UFC 93 in January.

In doing so, the industry leader is once again picking up steam heading into the New Year.

UFC 92 at the MGM Garden Arena already looks like it will be must-see TV when the promotion pits interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against Frank Mir, 205-pound champ Forrest Griffin against Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson gets his chance to redeem two earlier losses to Wanderlei Silva.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the three main-event quality fights to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports on Thursday, adding them to a fight card that already featured an intriguing match-up between middleweight contenders Yushin Okami and Dean Lister.

Of course, some of the steam has been taken out of the Nogueira-Mir bout by the return of rightful heavyweight champion Randy Couture to the mix. Still, the UFC will have the weight of a full season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show featuring the two Jiu Jitsu stylists as coaches to help promote it. Couture will fight Brock Lesnar at another can’t-miss show in Novemeber, with the winner set to meet up with the victor of Nog vs. Mir for a unification scrap sometime in early 2009.

While not a true heavyweight tournament, the series will have a cool, four-man grand prix feel if the UFC can pull it off without injury or without one of the fighters taking a year-long break to protest his contractual agreement.

When Griffin climbs into the cage to defend his title for the first time against Evans, it will have to be considered a watershed moment for “TUF.” Respective winners of the show’s first two seasons, both guys cemented their places near the top of the light heavyweight food chain with recent wins over well-respected 205-pound stalwarts. Griffin took the belt from Quinton Jackson via decision in July, while Evans crafted one of the more improbable knockouts in UFC history when he blasted Chuck Liddell in the second round in early September.

“TUF” alums sometimes struggle for respect amongst people who fancy themselves hardcore MMA junkies, but this is just an interesting match-up between two good fighters, plain and simple.

From a standpoint of pure intrigue, nothing beats a third installment of Jackson vs. Silva. The former UFC champ comes in with a lot of questions to answer. Currently charged with two felonies and a smattering of misdemeanors stemming from his bizarre chase with police in the days following his loss Griffin, skeptics say it might be too soon for Jackson to return to the cage, especially against his old nemesis from PRIDE FC.

After losing the title, “Rampage” also split with trainer Juanito Ibarra, the man who revitalized his career after some rough times near the end of his tenure in PRIDE. With all Jackson’s been through, both personally and professionally, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds. Especially without Ibarra by his side.

Sagging after three straight losses in 2006-07, Silva righted the ship with a quick KO of Keith Jardine in the Octagon in May. But the man whose devastating knockouts put Jackson on notice in PRIDE will also have to show he has enough left in the tank to compete at the sport’s highest level when the two meet-up for what is likely the final time.

With UFC events through the dawn of the next year beginning to take shape, it’s starting to look like winter will be a good time to be an MMA fan.