Now that the UFC has spent time and money lobbying and "educating" the state government, ignorance can no longer be feigned. The state of New York could benefit from staging not only UFC fights in New York City and Buffalo -- which would bring the state more than $13 milion for both shows -- but also smaller shows in Albany, Syracuse and other cities around the state. Right now, NYC is projecting that budget shortfalls will reach $8 billion by 2011, and the state has $15 billion deficit. Why would any responsible legislator not allow for the possibility of a sport that is not only a potential cash cow, but also is regulated in most of the other states in the country. MMA events happen in California, Nevada, Illinois, Florida and New Jersey with regularity, and no harm has come to these places as a result. 

It's time for New York to stop pussyfooting around and listening to the hysterical calls of a vocal, uneducated minority. Pass this bill, reap the benefits and then spend a little time on things like education and the flailing economy.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Why not? Especially if the dog already has the tricks in his arsenal. It's amazing how quickly media-types, bloggers and fans are to write off some of the stars of mixed martial arts. It defies logic since we've seen many of the stars fight well into their late 30s. Now it is clear that former light heavyweight Chuck Liddell can't survive solely as a one-dimensional fighter. He's not putting his punches together, there's no threat of the takedown and his leg kicks have all but disappeared from his game. He's lost 3-of-4 fights, two by brutal knockout. But Liddell, 39, isn't a lost cause. At least he doesn't believe so.

"The Iceman" took the most important step to break out of this funk by mixing up his training regimen. Liddell is working with American Top Team in South Florida in an effort, as his career-long trainer John Hackleman says, to round out his skills. Liddell stopped by the ATT facility in Coconut Creek, Fla. on two occasions according to Sharon Robb of the Sun-Sentinel:

"He was down here during our seminar for a few days training, left and then came back about a week later for a few more days," said ATT general manager Richie Guerriero. "His trainer likes our team and trusts Liborio, so the door is open for Chuck to come back down to help train for his next fight."

Boxers change trainers often. Shane Mosley did so when his fighting style got in a rut with his father Jack, as trainer. He eventually went back to his Dad. Oscar De La Hoya lost his last fight but he did use both Nacho Beristain and Angelo Dundee for their knowledge. Different voices can sometimes awaken a fighter. If Liddell were Tank Abbott and only had one facet to his game, you could say the new training plan is a waste. But this is a guy who has very good kickboxing, excellent takedown defense and good wrestling. Why not use it all? The days of being just a knockout artist or a ground and pound fighter are done. The young guys like Thiago Alves, Georges St. Pierre and Rashad Evans can do a little of everything.

Robb also mentions in her story that Liddell appears to be earmarked for a fight against either Shogun Rua (if he wins this month at UFC 93) or the Rich Franklin/Dan Henderson winner. Both seem like odd scenarios. Is Rua a lock to walkover Mark Coleman? He had his arm broken the first time they met in Pride back in 2006.

And can he be ready for a Mar. 7 fight after UFC 93 on Jan. 17? The Franklin/Henderson scenario is even more puzzling. Shouldn't the winner of that fight be out of commission for a while as one of the potential coaches of the next Ultimate Fighter?

Will this new training work or is it one last desperate attempt by Liddell, a shot fighter grasping at straws?

There's been a lot of beating around the bush about the U.S. coach for The Ultimate Fighter 9 - U.K. v. U.S. It only makes sense that the Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin UFC 93 battle is for the spot on the reality show with an eventual fight against British prospect Michael Bisping coming at the end of the season. Henderson was tight-lipped about the plan when Cage Writer spoke with him back at UFC 90 and rumors were that Franklin had no interest in the role.

According to Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press it sounds like the plan is in place or is it:

At this stage, it looks like the Franklin-Henderson winner Jan. 17 in Dublin can look forward to a TV gig - and a diet down the line. The two men meet at light-heavyweight in Dublin. The winner gets a shot as coach of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show. But it appears they will have to move down to middleweight to do it.

In a Monday convo, Franklin still wouldn't spill the beans:

"To the best of my knowledge, I believe that's the way things are going to work. What are the UFC's plans with myself if I do end up being the coach? My answer to that is I have no clue."

It seems far-fetched that Franklin has no idea because Henderson knows his fate:

"That's what it's looking like ... I win, I'm the coach. I have no idea beyond that."

So Henderson wins, he's in. If Franklin does, who the hell knows? Huh? Can this be true or is Franklin a rock solid vault? We could find out more today during the UFC 93 teleconference.

Photo via UFC.com

Almost all fighters talk trash, but B.J. Penn has always taken it up a notch. He threatens to lick the blood off his opponents -- and sometimes follows through -- promises pain, and offers to die to win the fight. Now, before his fight with welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, he said he will slam GSP on his head, and that he is ready to die to beat the Canadian.

Does this sound familiar to any Star Trek fans* out there? "Today is a good day to die!" If this were the 24th century, Penn would be a Klingon warrior, willing to die for the greater glory of the empire. But it's not the 24th century, and he is fighting for a UFC Championship, not for the future of the universe. Ease up on the homicidal talk.

* I will not confirm or deny my Trekkie fan status.

By violating his California suspension, which came after he defeated the late Justin Eilers via knockout on a July card in Stockton, Silva, as well as his cornermen, will be subject to a possible license revocation.

Silva stopped former Japanese national champion wrestler Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao (7-2) in just 1:42 by blowing him out with mostly low kicks.

Bill Douglas, the interim head of the California State Athletic Commission, stated he was notifying all athletic commissions of both Silva and his cornermen’s actions, and setting a Feb. 10 date for a hearing. A license revocation would mean Silva, and his corner men, would be banned from fighting in all U.S. commission states until California granted him a new license, which would be no less than one year from the date of it being revoked. Such an action would force whatever form EliteXC that potentially resurfaces this year to strip Silva of the title.

Silva's manager, Alex Davis, was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for the remainder of his license, which expires on July 23, and fined $2,500 for negotiating the fight. He has the right to appeal.

Silva was one of two EliteXC heavyweights who fought on the card. Top contender Dave "Pee Wee" Herman (13-1) was upset by a second round stoppage against former South Korean wrestling champion Choi Mu Bae (8-3), after being overwhelmed with a flurry of punches.

Former EliteXC welterweight champ K.J. Noons may be sidelined awaiting his next fighting gig but his life ain't all that bad. SportsByBrooks unearthed this photo with his main squeeze, who just so happens to be part of something called the Lingerie Football League. Melany Lorenzo has also appeared in Playboy.

It looks like things are still going strong since Noons has a photo of the fine Melany atop his MySpace page. The 24-year-old Venezuelan says she also trains in Muay Thai six days a week. Though she may want to calm down with the talk of Noons' underground poker games. A recent thread on the Underground Forum was asking for the MMA fighter with the "hottest girlfriend/wife", I'll take my chances with Noons and Lorenzo.

His handlers can't even remove his mouthpiece! It's amazing how quickly Herman gassed. He had nothing in the tank a few minutes into the second round. Maybe he was intimidated by the sneaks and ankle socks look by Choi.

A Bakersfield, Calif. boy saved a friend and her dog after a pitbull tried to attack them. Did he do it by calmly coaxing the dog with a sweet voice, and then singing to it? Nope. He did it using a choke he learned in a jiu-jitsu class, which he held for 20 minutes until the police showed up.

Isn't it better that he was in this class instead of sitting on a couch, playing video games and eating Twinkies? The next time I hear MMA described with the words "human cockfighting," I will find this wonderful young man, who talks about the ordeal here, and have him choke out the idiot who said it.

Photo via Amateur Wrestling Photos

Brock Lesnar has arrived. He is the UFC heavyweight champ. So it's understandable that he's going to fight once every four or five months. It's probably not the wisest thing for a guy with that little mixed martial arts experience but it's to be expected in his newfound position. Another former WWE wrestler, Bobby Lashley, doesn't have the same luxury. He's only got one professional fight under his belt and needs to get on the fast track to pick up lots of in-ring experience. Lashley isn't messing around waiting for his early promoters to find fights to see he's moving around the country to gain experience. He's now signed on to fight for Palace Fighting Championship 12 at Tachi Palace Feb. 6 in Lemoore, California.

Chad Dukes from WJFK in Washington D.C. caught up Lashley just before the signing. The 6-3, 265-pounder answered the obvious question about Lesnar:

"Brock is doing an excellent job. It's going to be hard to knock him out," said Lashley, who like Lesnar has a solid college wrestling pedigree. "We're going to stay really active this year. Hopefully get a good 4-5 fights in this year. Then we should look for the big one. In a year, we'll look to take the next step."

You can listen to the interview here on Dukes' site.

Lashley crushed Joshua Franklin in his first fight last month. He was at his home for the holidays during this interview but was training with American Top Team in South Florida prior to his debut.

Coming from the world of make believe wrestling, Lashley knows there's a lot of resistance from veteran mixed martial artists but he doesn't quite understand it:

"(Lesnar coming over) is a great thing. Not to take anything from all the other fighters. (Brock and all the viewers from WWE) does so much more for everyone else. Some guys don't understand. That brings so much more money for the sport. If Bobby Lashley is a reason to watch so be it."

Lashley breaks down how he would fight Lesnar and also spoke about how ATT is trying to make him a well-rounded fighter.

Johnson said once you're done with the UFC, you're done! Is that entirely true? How many fighters has the organization cut based on disciplinary issues? It is very likely that Neer could be axed if he's blown out by Mac Danzig and drops to 3-5 in the UFC.

Neer was charged with OWI (DUI). Is there a difference between Neer's state of mind and Jackson's diagnosed delirium? Or does star power enter into the mix when making a decision on Neer's future?

Two years ago, Takanori Gomi was regarded as the unbeatable force at 155 lbs. when he got off to a 25-2 start to his career. In 2007, Nick Diaz chipped away at that mystique by bludgeoning Gomi in a 160 lb. fight at Pride 33 in Las Vegas. Gomi has since lost to an underwhelming lightweight from Russia and at Sengoku 7 this morning, he was handed a submission loss inside of two minutes.

Can anyone say Eddie Alvarez? It was almost a carbon copy of the loss Shinya Aoki handed the Philadelphian last week at K-1 Dynamite 2008 except that Gomi's conqueror is no Aoki. Kitaoka, 28, came in with 23 wins in 40 fights and was ranked 19th in the world at lightweight according to Bloody Elbow's Top 25.

In the opening minute, Gomi fought tentatively allowing Kitaoka to stalk him from a distance. As soon as they engaged, Gomi was in trouble. Kitaoka shot for a takedown and it looked like Gomi nailed him with a right. Kitaoka wasn't hurt but he did allow Gomi to get control of his back for a second. Gomi looked really amateurish at this point as Kitaoka quickly reversed to get top control and work towards a heel hook. Gomi was safely sitting on his knees but then showed impatience falling to his rear end. That's when Kitaoka cinched in the hold even deeper for the finish at 1:41. If you count the Diaz no contest (positive marijuana test), the once unbeatable Gomi is now just 5-4 since April of 2007. Kitaoka, who won the Sengoku lightweight title, was in awe, almost apologetic to Gomi after the fight.

Kitaoka is a quality fighter. Many of those fights were draws in Pancrase. He has beaten some very good fighters including Kurt Pellegrino, Paul Daley and Carlos Condit, who have all made names for themselves in the U.S.

The mystery of the event was Jorge Santiago. Santiago won the Sengoku middleweight title in dominant fashion. But he only dominated in the fifth round!

The Brazilian is solid in all aspects of the game while Kazuo Misaki is not. Misaki is weak on the ground as Frank Trigg, Paulo Filho, Ed Herman, Jake Shields, Ricardo Almeida and Nate Marquardt all showed in taking him down at will in previous fights. For some unknown reason, Santiago chose to stand with Misaki for the first four rounds and was probably down 4-0 (3-1 at best) as he couldn't catch the counter-puncher.

Santiago went for a takedown with 3:13 left in the fight. Bingo! It took him less than 75 seconds to breakdown Misaki and mount him with 1:59 left in the fight. Misaki gave up his back six seconds later. The choke was in at 1:45 and Misaki was out cold 11 seconds later.

Santiago fights for American Top Team out of South Florida. He fought three times for the UFC going 1-2 with his lone win coming against the recently deceased Justin Levens.

The UFC hasn't had much interest in stealing Japan's biggest Japanese stars in the past. But when the promotion decides to do so, apparently it means business. It's a 99-percent certainty that the UFC has won the battle for the 2008 Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii. He visited Las Vegas to attend UFC 92 and took time for plenty of photo opps with the likes of Dana White, Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. The UFC interest is two-fold - 1. Capture a bigger part of the Japanese market; 2. Take away a potential future star from Japanese promotions like DREAM, K-1 and Sengoku.

Ishii, wearing his UFC t-shirt, was brought out during intermission of Sengoku 7 for a short speech in the ring this morning. Also appearing were UFC middleweight Yushin Okami and former UFC/Pride light heavyweight Kazuhiro Nakamura.

After the intermission, another Olympic judo gold medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida attempting to remake his career at 205 lbs., came up empty. Yoshida won his medal in 1992 and he looked every bit of 39-years-old. He was controlled on the ground in the first, got caught in a heel hook and mounted in the second. In the third, he was out of gas when Sanae Kikuta took him down and mounted him with four minutes left in the fight. Yoshida never got back to his feet and took a beating on the ground. It went the distance but Kikuta was given the decision.

An elite amateur wrestler goes to Team Quest and turns into a top level mixed martial artist. Forgive us if you've heard the story before involving guys like Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland. They head the list of wrestlers that Team Quest has turned into fighting machines. Now it's only the beginning stages but it looks like  former Olympic wrestling hopeful Muhammed Lawal has the goods to be the next guy.

He scored an easy win over Yukiya Naito this morning at Sengoku 7. Naito ran for much of the fight, although he did take a few seconds to engage King Mo in some in-fight dancing. Lawal eventually caught Naito with a big right to the chin that floored the Japanese fighter. Naito retreated to the opposite corner where he was floored again by a left uppercut. Once on the ground, Lawal finished Naito with four big lefts at 3:54 of the first. Naito came in riding a six-fight win streak.

Lawal was a collegiate wrestler at Oklahoma State and Central Oklahoma. He was the Division II champ in 2002. He also won the 2006 U.S. Open and 2007 Pan-Am Games. He finished second to Andy Hrovat at the 2008 Olympic trials at 185 lbs. Lawal fought this one at 204 lbs.  

Lawal is now 3-0 since starting his MMA career in September. He won his debut against MMA vet Travis Wiuff. That was a nice win fighting at 220 lbs. against the 246-pound Wiuff.

One piece of advice, Lawal can drop the WWE Godfather/pimp entrance. I don't mind the crown but surrounding himself with six "ho's" only plays to awful stereotypes that exist about African-Americans in Japan.

Silva (12-1) ignored his one year long suspension in the U.S. to take this fight at Sengoku 7. It'll be interesting to see if he gets to fight in the U.S. anytime soon. He doesn't have a win over a Top 15 heavyweight yet, but he's an intriguing prospect at 6-5, 260 pounds and 29 years old.

Silva's suspension began in August. He clearly snubbed his nose at the penalty. Should he ever be allowed to fight in the U.S. again? If he were, would it be fair to someone like Hermes Franca who sat out his 12 months without traveling out of the country for a payday?

Nakao was actually 7-1 coming into the fight with decent wins over Don Fyre and Cabbage Correira. He's most famous for his kiss of current UFC heavyweight Heath Herring. Herring knocked out Nakao before the fight began.

Photo via CombatLifestyle

Herman was rocked and retreated as Choi poured it on before "Pee Wee" fell to his knees against the ropes at 2:22 of the second round. Herman (pictured during a win over Kerry Schall) was a sitting duck and referee Hiromi Okamoto had to stop it. It was the first loss of Herman's career.

Eiji Mitusuoka schooled Sergei Golyaev in the next fight.

Mitsuoka scored a takedown less than 60 seconds into the fight. He rotated between full guard and side control. Golyaev worked well from the bottom minimizing damage but he simply could not get the fight back to the feet even with a reset at 1:15 left in the round. Mitusuoka worked through a loose half guard moving to the mount with 32 seconds left. It was a high mount that he quickly transitioned into an armbar. It didn't appear that Golyaev tapped but the referee quickly stopped the fight giving Mitsuoka the win at 4:42 of the first.

One is looking to take his career to the next level, the other may be ending his career as a fighter in the U.S. EliteXC folded a little over two months ago, so fighters are scrambling to make some bucks. You can't blame Dave Herman and Antonio Silva for wanting to get back into the ring. The problem with Silva is that he's in the midst of serving a one year suspension from the California State Athletic Commission for a positive steroids test. The former EliteXC heavyweight champ has said screw it and is fighting in Japan on Sengoku 7 card against Yoshihiro Nakao.

Herman (13-0) is an intriguing prospect at 6-foot-5, 240 lbs. he's stopped 12 of his 13 victims in the first round. He's facing 261-pound Mu Bae Choi.

Top five lightweight Takanori Gomi is on the card fighting for Sengoku's lightweight title. Kazuo Masaki is facing former UFC fighter Jorge Santiago for the middleweight title. A slimmed down Hidehiko Yoshida, a former Olympic judo gold medalist, is also on the card fighting at light heavyweight.

The card is slated to begin at 2 a.m. ET Sunday morning.

This obsession with a pro boxing career isn't helping things either. Now Roach is talking about pitting Arlovski, with zero pro boxing matches under his belt, against WBA champ Nikolay Valuev:

“If Andrei wins against Fedor on the 24th, I would put in right into a title fight with Nikolai Valuev right away," Freddie Roach told Fighthype.com. "It would be Belarus vs. Russia and that’s huge marketing for PPV and Andrei has a huge crowd in that area. He will cross over into boxing though; that is a definite! His next fight after Fedor will be a boxing match.”

Roach says in the video piece that Fedor can't fight going backwards. We'll see. If this one gets to the ground, Arlovski is in huge trouble. He couldn't get off the mat against Jake O'Brien and Roy Nelson early in those fights. What happens when the best fighter in the world is pounding away and working for submissions?

Then photographer Tracy Lee snapped a shot of him after The TUF 8 Finale. What a shocker! He was still in his TUF gear. Then this video emerges of Vitor Belfort training for the Jan. 24 Affliction card. Stankie is wearing the same outfit!

Belfort has again become a fighter to watch. He really hit the wall losing 5-of-7 fights from late 2004 into late 2006. Belfort tested positive at Pride 32 for the steroid 4-hydroxytestosterone. At just 29, it looked like the end of the road was near. He is now trying to rebuild his career at 185 lbs. and looked awesome in his middleweight debut against Terry Martin. He'd be a nice addition for the UFC to build depth in that division.

Here is another impressive Belfort training video where he's performing takedowns against a much bigger training partner while attached to a harness.

It's even dumber when you consider the idea is basically stolen from the world of pro wrestling. Wahoo McDaniel v. Curt Henning or Big Van Vader v. Sting or Roddy Piper v. Jimmy Snuka.

The UFC is always looking to add to its heavyweight ranks. Is it ready to roll the dice on former light heavyweight Alistair Overeem. Normally a light heavy moving up is dangerous proposition since he's probably walking around at 220 lbs. Not Overeem, he has made the miraculous jump from a lean 6-foot-4, 205 lbs. to 253 lbs. at his last fight K-1 Dynamite 2008. Wow! Overeem (pictured on the left) is the rare athletic, big heavy with a great set of striking skills.

He spoke with DreamFighters.com and said he is interested in fighting in the U.S. again:

DreamFighters.com: What is next for you? UFC, Lesnar, Fedor, what?

Alistair Overeem: Well I challenged (Remy) Bonjanksy on K-1 rules and yes, Fedor (Emelianenko) and (Brock) Lesnar are on my list, (Frank) Mir as well!

DreamFighters.com: Who would you like to fight next?

Alistair Overeem: I am going on a holiday as I really trained hard whole 2008, beginning of February I will start training again, my management is in negotiations now, I might visit the UFC (93) in Ireland on January 17th.

DreamFighters.com: Have you had any talks with Dana White or the UFC - Any interest fighting for the UFC or Affliction?

Alistair Overeem: My management has been in contact with Affliction as well as the UFC, I am a fighter and i concentrate on fighting, I am very happy with Golden Glory!

Overeem would be a nice get for UFC. He has the look and he is very dangerous on the feet. He's also been super effective with the guillotine choke when shorter fighters give their heads standing.

Overeem gave Chuck Liddell everything he could handle during a Pride event in 2003. He rocked Liddell with a left less 10 seconds into the fight and landed a ton knees. When have you seen Liddell ditch the stand-up game so he could wrestle? He did against Overeem. Liddell won the fight when Overeem gassed. Watch the video to see some of Overeem's game.

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Now the big question is can Overeem carry that 253 naturally? They don't test in Japan and we know California and Nevada don't mess around. Overeem did fight three times in the states in 2006 and 2007. He fought for Strikeforce in 2006 against Vitor Belfort at 210 and twice in 2007: Feb. 24 Pride 33 v. Shogun Rua at 205 and Nov. 16 Strikeforce v. Paul Buentello at 224. He passed all those tests. Should a red flag go up? Seven months later Overeem fought in June for DREAM 4 at 240, September for DREAM 6 at 241 and then came back for the K-1 Dynamite event at 253.

It would be nice to see Overeem in the states to fight legit heavyweights in MMA. He shouldn't have to reach for fights under K-1 rules.

Video tip from CagePotato

Photo via FreeFightVideos

Rashad Evans is catching up on Christmas after sacrificing his holidays for a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. It was worth it, he took the strap from Forrest Griffin but it meant that he only got to see his new daughter for about three days during the lead up to UFC 92. He was in good spirits when he entered the TAGG radio "cave" to talk about the fight, his future and his junk grabbing display in the second round after a flurry of Griffin punches:

"It was just a little fun," said Evans, who was hanging in the Chicago area during a phone interview with Gorgeous George, MMAJunkie's John Morgan and Frank Trigg. "He hit me with a good shot and he gave me a little smile. We were just going back and forth. (It's like) when you're in the gym there's some stuff going on. There will be a little trash talking. It ain't nothing personal, just getting into the fight."

Griffin's training partner Mike Whitehead disagreed saying that Evans is classless and bad for the sport.

Click below to listen to the Evans interview (TAGG Radio):

Evans broke down the fight and said he may have gotten too amped up beforehand. He had a surprising thought enter his head seconds before the fight and that mindset may have led to his slow start in the first two rounds.

Evans got into what is next. He may be the first UFC light heavyweight to go on record saying that he'd actually like to fight Lyoto Machida. Machida has an awkward counter-striking style and most 205ers have said that they want no part of him.

Ultimate Fight Night 17 co-main event fighter Neer was arrested in Des Moines earlier this morning.  A Polk County (Iowa) police report says that Neer hit a police car and engaged the cops in a 15-minute car chase. Neer was finally stopped when his car hit "stop sticks".

The Des Moines Register describes the incident and chase:

Just after midnight, a squad car on routine patrol was stopped for a red light on Court Avenue when the car behind rear-ended it, according to a written report. The woman told police her car was also struck from behind.

The 25-year-old male driver in the third car, a black Audi Quattro, then pulled out, crossed into oncoming traffic on Court Avenue, and turned north on Fourth Street, the police report stated.

Police chased the Audi 20 miles.

At Sixth and Euclid avenues, the officer attempted a stop the fleeing car by hitting the back right quarter panel with the front left side of the squad car, a technique known as a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver.

The Audi spun around but the driver regained control and continued west on Euclid Avenue.

Des Moines police continued the chase as the Audi traveled into Urbandale, then onto Interstate Highway 80 eastbound. The Audi reached speeds in excess of 100 mph in a 65 mph zone, the police report says. The chase ended at mile marker 137.

Neer was released on $7,000 bail and charged with eluding the police and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Delirium was the explanation for what fueled Jackson's driving rampage in Southern California back in July.

The Atlantic did a nice job of recapping the aftermath of Jackson's chase and capture:

“I called (UFC owner) Lorenzo (Fertitta) and our attorney at three in the morning, after I saw Rampage that night, and I’m like, ‘You guys have no (expletive) idea what I just saw. You have no idea what I just saw,’” said UFC president Dana White about visiting Jackson in jail.

The next day, the police went to Jackson’s home and took him to a psychiatric ward, where he was held for 72 hours. The immediate diagnosis was that the fighter was suffering from delirium induced by severe dehydration, reportedly caused by a week of staying up all night on energy drinks. When he was arrested, he hadn’t eaten or slept in four days.

The UFC did not suspend or penalize Jackson. He simply took five months off before winning his comeback fight at UFC 92 against Wanderlei Silva.

Will the UFC wait for the system to process Neer's incident or does it need to send a message and take him off the high profile SpikeTV Feb. 7 main event against Mac Danzig?

Interested in finding out more about the writers who comprise the Y! Sports monthly Top 10 poll? Then check out the links to their sites:

*Denny Burkholder is the boxing and MMA producer for CBSSports.com.

*Mike Chiappetta covers MMA for NBCSports.com

*Steve Cofield is the lead blogger for Y! Sports' Cage Writer and co-hosts the Cofield and Cokin show for ESPN Radio in Las Vegas.

*Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press is Canada's leading MMA reporter.

*Dave Doyle is the MMA/Boxing producer for Yahoo! Sports.

*Josh Gross covers mixed martial arts for SportsIllustrated.com.

*Kevin Iole is the lead MMA and boxing writer for Yahoo! Sports.

*Damon Martin covers MMA for MMAWeekly.com.

*Todd Martin covers MMA for CBSSports.com.

*Portland freelance reporter Brad McCray has covered MMA since the early days of Team Quest in Oregon.

*Dave Meltzer has covered the sport since UFC 1 in 1993. He is an MMA staff writer for Yahoo! Sports and has published the Wrestling Observer for 25 years.

*Pramit Mohapatra, who formerly wrote for SportsIllustrated.com and The Baltimore Sun, is the founder of Fightticker.com.

*Ken Pishna is the editor for MMAWeekly.com.

*Steve Sievert covers MMA for MMAjunkie.com.

*Michael David Smith covers MMA for the AOL Fanhouse

Eddie Alvarez was about to burst onto the American fighting scene with an EliteXC appearance before the company went under. Now he's been set back even further with a lopsided loss to Shinya Aoki at K-1 Dynamite 2008. Alvarez didn't want to go to the ground with Aoki, who may be one of the top five submission fighters in MMA. Yet he threw a sloppy kick that was caught. Aoki took Alvarez's back standing and got the fight to the ground. He quickly slapped on an ankle lock, Alvarez tried to roll but only made it worse when he went for Aoki's leg. Alvarez quickly tapped from the heel hook and was unable to even stand after the submission. The 25-year-old Aoki may look like a nerd but he's a killer. He is now 19-3 and likely to be ranked No. 2 in the world behind B.J. Penn on many lightweight top 10 lists. Alvarez, a native of Philadelphia, is now 15-2.

Watch the Aoki win after the jump. The other fight featuring top 10 lightweights, Gesias Cavalcante and Joachim Hansen, never reached the ring. It was announced before the card that Hansen was unable to fight because of a prior head injury.

Gegard Mousasi, who is an intriguing opponent down the road to possibly face Anderson Silva, walked over Musashi fighting under K-1 rules.

Musashi went down two times before he was finished by a 15 punch flurry. Mousasi, 23, has a solid kickboxing background but really carved out a name for himself by winning Dream's 185-pound MMA tournament earlier this year. He's a big dude for a middleweight. He fought this one at 215 lbs. destroying the heavier Musashi.  

Kazushi Sakuraba lost a unanimous decision to Kiyoshi Tamura. Sakuraba, 39, was on the bottom for much of the fight trying to work submissions but could never catch Tamura.

Knockout of Night should go to Melvin Manhoef who buried Mark Hunt in 18 seconds. Manhoef was called in yesterday to replace Jerome LeBanner. Bad news for Hunt!

He caught Hunt on the chin with a devastating combo to floor the 287-pound Samoan.

The guy was supposed to come over lay waste to the UFC's heavyweight division when he was signed back in early 2007. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic went 1-2 over the course of seven months and scurried back to Japan. It's time for him to come back to the U.S. or retire. He danced around this morning with 7-foot-3 freak Hong Man Choi before finishing the 327-pound Korean with a inside kick to the left knee at 6:32 of the first round. Cro Cop spent most of the fight running from Choi trying to pick his shots in a fight under K-1 rules. The ref gave both fighters a warning for stalling after five minutes of little action. Cro Cop, 34, is way too talented to be fighting on this type of card. It featured a guy fighting in a mask, a high school tournament, several fights with 75 pound weight differentials and worst of all, the blood curdling screams of the Suzyn Waldman-clone ring announcer.

There's no reason Cro Cop wouldn't be in the mix with the top six fighters in the UFC heavyweight division. Dana White told the Best Damn Sports Show on FoxSportsNet that he would welcome Cro Cop back. The Croatian announced after the fight that he'll be sidelined for six months because of knee surgery and will then decide his future.

"Kinnikuman's" outfit and mask were a bit ridiculous but the pro wrestler actually put up a very solid fight against Bob Sapp, who outweighed him by 140 lbs. Akihito Tanaka used his wrestling to takedown Sapp on two occasions in the opening round. In the second case, he controlled the "The Beast" for over three minutes getting in some solid punches. The 6-foot-4, 365-pound Sapp finally powered his way back to the feet and landed a huge right followed by an uppercut. Less than 30 seconds later, Tanaka was getting pummeled by huge shots in the corner and turned his back to give up. Sapp gets the win at 5:22 of the first round at K-1 Dynamite 2008.

The Japanese matchmakers get the job done again as Sapp moves to 10-3-1 in MMA. He beat a fighter basing his character on a Japanese cartoon. Give the guy credit as a part-time fighter and full-time pitchman, the former Washington Husky and Chicago Bear offensive lineman has made himself into a superstar in Japan. He's appeared in 23 commercials, 200 times on TV, in 1000 interviews, on 200 products with his name or image. You watch the fight after the jump.

Alistair Overeem destroyed the trash talking Badr Hari in a fight under K-1 (kickboxing) rules.

The 253-pound Overeem stalked Hari until he caught him with a big knee followed by a left. Hari got up but was then planted by another left for the TKO win. This is a helluva win for Overeem or K-1 sucks. Hari (69-8) was the K-1 heavyweight champ before being stripped of the title earlier this year when he was disqualified for taking down and striking Bojansky on the ground during the K-1 2008 World Grand Prix Final. It was just the fifth K-1 fight of Overeem's career.

Daisuke Nakamura put on a show against Hideo Tokoro. They rolled and transitioned at a ridiculous pace over the course of 90 seconds. Nakamura worked two different armbar scenarios before he tied up Tokoro like a pretzel and finished him with one final armbar at 2:01.

One of the best lightweights in the world Tatsuya Kawajiri crushed Kozo Takeda under K-1 rules. He knocked down Takeda four times. The best came on a sweet flying knee.

Here is video of the cartoon this wrestler is based on.

Sakarai has wins over former/present UFC fighters Frank Trigg, Mac Danzig, Caol Uno, Dave Menne and Jens Pulver with losses to Anderson Silva, Ryo Chonan and Matt Hughes. With that kind of resume why exactly was Sakurai in with Shibata?

Andy Ologun showed solid power and submission defense in taking out Yukio Sakaguchi.

Sakaguchi slapped on a nasty looking triangle and then worked for an armbar for nearly two minutes. Ologun powered his way out and the fight was quickly brought back to the feet. That's when Ologun floored Sakaguchi and knocked him out on the ground with a brutal left at 3:52 of the first. The 25-year old Nigerian has a kickboxing background. He's also a popular figure on Japanese television and made news as a crime fighter in June. His brother Bobby is also a fighter and the real star of the family (31 kids!) with his television appeances on Super Karakuri TV. He was part of huge controversy in 2006 for an alleged assault. 

Izuhisa Minowa shredded Errol Zimmerman's left foot. It took "Minowman" less than a minute to get Zimmerman to the mat. Once he applied the toe-hold, Zimmerman was screaming in pain before submitting at 1:01. It seemed like a bit of a mismatch with Zimmerman, a K-1 fighter/kickboxer, making his MMA debut against Minowman (41-29-8) in his 78th fight.

Eddie Alvarez, 24, from Philadelphia battles Shinya Aoki. These two are arguably the No. 2 and 3 lightweights in the world. Aoki is a submission genius with two gogoplata submissions to his credit. Alvarez with a strong wrestling/boxing base is 15-1. Two other top six lightweights face off in Gesias Cavalcante and Joachim Hansen.

Fightlinker has the link so you can watch the condensed version of the fight card tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. ET.

Mark Hunt, Sakuraba, Hayato Sakurai, Alistair Overeem, Badr Hari, Cro Cop, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Gegard Mousasi are all featured on the card.

The "Diamond" side of Kaplan was first on display with his fine dancing and use of an 80's cheese hit from General Public for the Browning fight. Then we find out the guy is a karoake junkie with this appearance on The Singing Bee.

I've never seen this show. Frankly, Joey Fatone stinks as the host. He especially blows when he makes several eye gouging references about MMA. Kaplan flopped with The Supremes and Indigo Girl but nailed it with something called the Angels. Maybe the winner should win show hosting duties as well.

The Japanese love to close out each year with a bang. 2008 is no different with "Mr. Natural" Bob Sapp "fighting" a pro wrestler and Cro Cop battling 7-foot-3 Hong Man Choi. The card actually features several good fights (preview later in the day). The event is not on U.S. television. Some internet company was set to charge $29.95 tomorrow morning for live stream of the event. No dice on that now. If you can find another feed on the web, the event begins at 3 a.m. ET.

Sapp (pictured on the left) is the marketing cash cow who goes 6-foot-4, 365 lbs but also goes about 45 seconds before he's exhausted. It's clear he doesn't really train and maybe some of the "supplements" he takes hurt his cause as well. We're not even sure if this fight against something with a mask called Kinniko Manturo is real.

Former Pride and UFC great Cro Cop does have a real fight against 7-footer Hong Man Choi. Are the Japanese trying to get all of Choi's ribs broken? Choi, who just took a beating from Ray Sefo last month and Badr Hari the month before, will no doubt be kicked into submission again tonight. Cro Cop (pictured on the right) practiced his head kicks with Franjo Arapovic, a 7-footer who was a member of the Croatian Olympic basketball team in 1988 and 1992.

Fighter/adult video star Hayato Sakurai makes an appearance tonight against Katsuyori Shibata.

Silva tells RawVegas that he'd like to fight at UFC 100 and he definitely wants a chance at revenge against Jackson.

Who should Silva fight next? Should he drop to middleweight? Michael Rome says a spot on The Ultimate Fighter would be the perfect opportunity to move Silva down. Or should he become a gatekeeper at light heavyweight? Lyoto Machida should have to go through someone like Wandy before he even sniffs a title shot.

That parity is what makes the light-heavyweight division in the UFC so much fun. The belt has changed hands twice in 2008, and both title fights have been exciting to watch. There are so many legitimate contenders that it gives fans like us plenty to discuss. Sure, Rampage Jackson deserves a chance to get his belt back against Rashad Evans, but what about the winner of Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin's upcoming bout? And who should Forrest Griffin face next? Is Wanderlei Silva going to retire? Where does superstar, and former champion, Chuck Liddell fit in? Or Lyoto Machida? Not to mention the numerous up-and-comers who want a shot at a title, like Mark Munoz and Thiago Silva? Phew. It's enough to make MMA fans dizzy.

But it's also what make the light-heavyweight division the best one in the UFC. Middleweight has grown boring as we wait to see if Anderson Silva will take another undermatched fighter, if Paulo Filho will get his head together to fight his friend Silva, or if the UFC will sign talented middleweights like Ronald "Jacare" Souza or Gegard Mousasi. The lightweight and welterweight divisions are on hold until B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre settle their grudge match on Jan. 31. A unification bout for the heavyweight belts is finally set, but the debates about heavyweight are getting old and stale.

It's the light-heavyweights that are making the UFC interesting now. Parity has its benefits. 

Photo via Combat Lifestyle

Bonnar's suggestion that Liddell move to heavyweight isn't the worst idea. He walks around at 225-230 lbs. and he'll certainly be more athletic than most of the big boys. Randy Couture rebuilt his career as a heavyweight why can't Chuck? BloodyElbow has a comprehensive list of who may be next for Liddell. BE sets the favorites for Liddell's desired March/April fight: 1. Shogun Rua 2. Dan Henderson/Rich Franklin loser 3. Keith Jardine.

That said, Whitehead gave Jackson the soft touch before he unloaded on Rashad Evans:

"I hate the way Rashad goes out and (expletive) carries himself. He's almost as bad as Tito (Ortiz) now. I don't know how he can say he's a good ambassador for the sport when he goes out and does that (expletive). He's kissing his glove and touching his (expletive)."

Is anyone other than Forrest Griffin's buddies worked up about Evans' behavior? Whitehead is talking about the way both fighters carry themselves in and out of the cage. Is there an issue with either? Amongst media members you could have quite a throwdown in a debate about who's better for the sport, Griffin or Evans? I can only say that I've had good experiences in dealing with both fighters.

Whitehead also goes off on Brock Lesnar getting a shot at the heavyweight title after just three professional fights.    

Congrats if you broke the bank at UFC 92. If you followed our advice on the big three fights, you're in the poor house. That makes it six straight losses for yours truly in our RawVegas picks video. Quinton Jackson did pull it together mentally, Frank Mir can box and Forrest Griffin isn't too big for Rashad Evans on the ground. Mir delivered the biggest payout at +300 while Jackson and Evans both cashed as +110 dogs.

Until the big stars rolled out to the cage, it was a solid night for the favorites who had won 6-of-7 fights with Brad Blackburn (+130) pulling off the only upset against Ryo Chonan. In fact, amongst the six winners only C.B. Dollaway (-180) was even close to losing when he got caught by a Mike Massenzio guillotine choke. Overall, the favorites won the night 6-4.

Cage Writer did go 2-1 with its highlighted picks but we won't brag about hitting Cheick Kongo (-330) or Yushin Okami (-300). We're just glad we didn't drop a nickel on a dog like Mostapha Al Turk. The evening left Cage Writer up +60. That makes it 18-3 and +1545 dating back to September (UFC 88, UFN 15, UFC 89, UFC 90, UFC 91, TUF 8, UFC 92).

UFC 93 is up next on Jan. 17. Do we fire on Rich Franklin or Dan Henderson? Will heavy favorites Shogun Rua and Denis Kang roll to victories? Who wants to set odds on Chris Lytle v. Marcus Davis getting Fight or KO of the Night?

Photo via AP

Though Frank Mir and Rashad Evans walked away with belts, Rampage Jackson pocketed the most cash from Saturday's event. 

As always, Compustrike gives an interesting, mathemetician's view of the fights. 

If Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson meet for the title, it will be the first time two African-Americans meet in the Octagon for a championship. 

Rashad Evans has grown and matured into an all-around fighter with knockout power. 

The Bleacher Report and I must not have watched the same fights as me on Saturday, as they saw poor performances by the fighters. 

Did you notice the new Octagon Girl? Fightlinker already has a new nickname for her. 

There is no competition. Mixed martial is the sport made for bloggers. The fights are great but with trash talking fighters, a headline stealing UFC president, rival organizations and hot chicks it made for an unreal 2008 in MMA. Picking the big fights or who was going to be the next big star was a dangerous proposition. Let's run down the best of the best from the cage fighting blogosphere.

Story of the Year: One punch, one radio interview and lots of bad business decisions. The Kimbo Slice upset and EliteXC subsequently going out of business garnered more attention on the web than anything that happened in the UFC all year. Seth Petruzelli hastened the fall of the struggling fight promotion with his fight fixing statements.

Honorable Mention: A close runner-up on pure comedic value was the Andrei Arlovski-Tim Sylvia love triangle. Arlovski later dropped his infamous pee-pee line ... Affliction's owner Todd Beard sounded hammered during a satellite radio appearance and Randy Couture called him out during an interview with Cage Writer. Less than a month later he "resigned" from the company when it came out that he had a lengthy criminal record ... Female fighters Gina Carano and Tonya Evinger made us happy with their party photos. Evinger took it to another level when she said that she wanted a piece of the internet punks who were calling her ugly ... Tito Ortiz stole the show at the UFC 84 weigh-in with a t-shirt and then topped himself by nearly getting tossed from the post-fight press conference ... It was happy day when Couture ended his contract squabble with the UFC ... There were sadder days when Rampage Jackson was arrested and even worse when former champ Evan Tanner passed away.

Video of the Year: Things really heated up towards the end of the year. A brawl in the stands at UFC 91 that started between a fat woman and a K-1 fighter got over 400,000 hits on Youtube. The fighter Ray Sefo told Cage Writer that he was more afraid of the woman than his 7-foot-3, 360-pound opponent two weeks later.

Honorable Mention: If you were looking for gross vids, MMA delivered with the Corey Hill snapped shin matched by this 2006 fight and this injury to Pele Landi in February ... Chuck Liddell got hit in the face by Ron Jeremy's kick (that's right KICK) ... Ortiz bloodied up some dude on MadTV ... Carano violated a lucky fella, Phil Baroni did the same to a radio host and then rubbed up against a female reporter ... Two guys were wrestling in a cage when they were joined by a naked guy ... This Liddell fan sang the blues after "The Iceman" lost to Rashad Evans ... Kimbo actually lost his first fight to David Blaine.      

Honest-To-Goodness Reporting and Analysis of the Year: A crooked cop tried to bilk Matt Hughes out of major bucks. Hughes was asked to apply a choke for a fan photo. He was taken to court but the suit was tossed out of court in June.

Honorable Mention: Referees go wild as EliteXC ref Jorge Ortiz costs Roy Nelson a chance at an upset while UFC ref Steve Mazzagatti lets Jason MacDonald get in extra shots on Joe Doerksen ... A female fighter allegedly beats the snot out of her hubbie ... UFC partner and supplement maker Xyience is raked over the coals by a blogger ... UFC fighter Jon Koppenhaver doesn't go to jail for choking out a civilian on the street ... Good thing he didn't mess with this 63-year old ...  Budding journalist Ricco Rodriguez told us what (expletive) Sandwich is ... The obnoxious Jim Rome of Canada found out that Dana White sucks at geography. 

Media Bird-Doggin' of the Year: Cage Writer took a lot of media folks to task for their coverage of this fledgling sport. Gus Johnson was our biggest victim with his screams of Rocky! Rocky! when Seth Petruzelli pulled the mild upset on Kimbo.

Honorable Mention: His partner Mauro Ranallo ruined an earlier EliteXC with his over-the-top hyperbole ... The UFC tested the Minneapolis market only to be greeted by a hoard of 70-year old writers ... Mike Wilbon sounded just as clueless when claiming that Kimbo fight was thrown ... Deadspin drew a correlation between a mouthpiece and a murder-suicide ... ESPN is worried about steroids in MMA but won't address the topic in the NFL ... A Dallas writer said the XFL and MMA will have the same life span ... Bill O'Reilly said he couldn't show an MMA highlight because it was too violent but immediately followed it with video of a man hit by a car ... ESPN the Magazine writer LZ Granderson likened Kimbo to Roots' character Kunta Kinte.

The Best in Guest (Fighter) Blogging: Fighters sure do like MySpace and Facebook. It was a must read when you saw a new bulletin posted by Jon Koppenhaver War Machine. After seven months of maniacal posts, he topped himself when he told everyone why he changed his legal name to War Machine.

Honorable Mention: The creepiest moment of the blogging year was Tanner foreshadowing his own death on his SpikeTV blog ... Shockingly, one of the most boring fighters is the most boring blogger ... Junie Browning wasn't the craziest guy on The Ultimate Fighter 8 ... There's one fighter who's not getting it done with the ladies ... Sylvia needed spellcheck and Jenna Jameson tried too hard to sound smart ... Japan brought us Akihiro Gono who talked about not being able to use his left in the bedroom and now he can't even pay for help.

The Year in Lists: Definitely the meanest but most rib rattling list of the year. Why did my favorite Octagon Girl Edith miss UFC 80?  

Honorable Mention: The 10 worst cuts in MMA history was just disgusting ... Cage Potato's list of top MMA photos was exhilarating and gross ... Four fights that should've never happened was right on the money ... MMA can be funny in the cage or ring.

The Year in High Fashion: Does it get any better than Carano wearing a skirt while doing the worm?

Honorable Mention: Sylvia told everyone that he wore his title belt while servicing a lady ... This fighter had an awesome pornstache while Dustin Hazelett and Petruzelli won Facial Hair of the Year ... A middleweight title contender partied in a diaper weeks before his fight with Anderson Silva.

Interview of the Year: This one is a slam dunk. Cage Writer got to talk to President-elect Barack Obama on the eve of the election and ask a question using Matt Hughes' political theories.

Honorable Mention: White ranted about how EliteXC was ruining things for everyone ... Kim Couture called Jared Shaw a pervert ... Liddell talked about having sex right before fights ... ESPN's Tom Farrey almost got a Lesnar boot in the face ... Karo Parisyan was in no mental state to fight and this fan Corrie, isn't stable enough to be around White or Cage Writer ... Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste struggles with jiu-jitsu and the spoken word.

What huge, funny or interesting stories did we miss in our MMA blogosphere recap?

More Y! Sports year of the blog posts: The Y! Sports Blogs (general), Shutdown Corner (NFL), Big League Stew (MLB), Ball Don't Lie (NBA), Puck Daddy (NHL), Dr. Saturday (NCAAF), The Dagger (NCAAB), From the Marbles (NASCAR) and Devil Ball (golf)

Olympic judo gold-medalist Satoshi Ishii has stated that he would like to fight in the UFC over any other promotion. He was the UFC's guest for UFC 92, and he clearly made his preference for the Zuffa-backed promotion known by his outfit. And bag. And hat. It sort of reminds me of how Joey Tribbiani let us know of his preference for Porsches. 

Photo via Fightlinker

These video blogs are becoming the rage in the fight world. Top five middleweight Matt Lindland is captured "training" on his farm Rocky IV style. Good use of the Rocky music but wrong song. The Lindlands should've simply gone with the Rocky Training Montage or even Europe's Final Countdown. We'll even accept Team America's montage.

Check out the fine Lindland video work after the jump. "The Law" better be wearing some spiked boots before his breaks his ass falling on the ice and snow.  

A car chasing Lindland would've made this video solid gold. I wonder if there's a certain media member thinking that Lindland will never return to the UFC by simply lifting buckets. Rich Franklin doesn't lift buckets.

Good spot by TheGarv.com

Jackson said he couldn't lose to Wanderlei Silva for a third time. If he did, he'd never hear the end of it from his toughest critics:

"When I lose I come back stronger the next time. I look at the fight and say 'man I just got my butt kicked.' It's embarrassing to me. You guys just don't know my family. They make fun of me."

Rashad Evans realized it was time to step on the gas before the third round:

"My coach in the corner was like 'you're down two rounds.' I was like 'I know man, I'm going to start fighting the next round.' Sometimes you rhyme slow, sometimes you rhyme quick. I came out rhyming real slow. But I puilled everything together at the end."

Watch the entire press conference after the jump. Frank Mir was brutally honest saying even he wouldn't have chosen himself to win the fight:

"I can look at the odds. On paper, I wouldn't have given me a chance in the fight. He's the better fighter on paper. Better record, been in against more opponents and that was the monster I knew I had to train for."

Presser begins at 4:02 after Al Bernstein wrap.

Thanks to IBNSports

In all the best ways possible.

The similarities are obvious in person, as my first live UFC experience Saturday night reminded me somewhat of boxing, a good deal of NASCAR in terms of the wildly devoted fan base following this traveling circus, and, of course, of the old WWF years ago at the mighty Hartford Civic Center.

Pro wrestling has mastered the absurdity of hype. The trash talk, the story lines, the personalities, the manufactured controversy.

MMA has all that. Except it's not manufactured. Encouraged and spun, to be sure – especially by UFC's megalomaniac leader Dana White. And sometimes amateurish or minor league baseball-esque in terms of the "party with me … we're giving away stereos" type of mentality, but it's also endearing.

Regardless, unlike pro wrestling, the hype is built upon an already existing baseline of reality.

You see, the competition is real. And brutal.

Just watch the left hook Quinton "Rampage" Jackson used to knock out Wanderlei Silva here at UFC 92, or recall the groin shots Cheick Kongo and Mostapha Al Turk traded before Kongo bloodied his opponent en route to a TKO.

And the fan base is knowledgeable (overheard in the crowd was a debate around which refs call TKOs too soon vs. which ones wait until an about to be defeated fighter has completely bled out before waving it off, not to mention breakdowns of fighter styles and how they informed these fans' betting choices in the Vegas sportsbooks), passionate and, by many accounts, growing.

It's also appreciative of efforts, seemingly not so jaded so as to arbitrarily trash one fighter over another – though many could take a step back from the "boxing sucks" stance; it's OK to enjoy both, folks.

As for MMA enjoyment, the sport represents skillful yet brutal combat for the amusement of the masses. An Italian tour guide recently told me he believes the film "Gladiator" solidly represented the action the Roman Coliseum might have witnessed a couple thousand years ago.

Well, if there is a modern-day equivalent, this is it.

This all is painfully old news for those already on the MMA bandwagon. It's obvious to this packed and enthusiastic house, full of fans uttering a collective "ohhh" with each connected blow, leaping to their feet with each takedown.

But what becomes more obvious in person is how much of an event these fights really are. There are thousands who travel here from California to Connecticut, from Montana to Ottawa, hanging on every moment.

There are women in almost comically tight dresses who will have no problem skipping the lines at the clubs later in the evening.

The reason is structure.

UFC isn't perfect by any stretch. Some fighters complain about the contracts and pay scale, others lament not being able to get the fights they want. This is no democracy; White controls everything. And this is exactly why the Afflictions and Elite XCs of the world have believed they can survive and thrive. They can provide more opportunity for fighters and more product for an allegedly hungrier fan base.

But aside from those anomalies, the Kimbo Slices and Gina Caranos and Fedor Emelianenkos, it's all centralized here. For better or worse – and there are arguments on both sides – UFC's rival sanctioning bodies have struggled to survive.

Not UFC.

So here at the MGM Grand Arena is UFC 92, which continues the tradition of uninspired names. But that doesn't matter. Because the show is here. White has made sure of that, just as he has ensured the fans will see their sport's stars two or three times a year as they battle for titles or title shots under one sanction.

Boxing, despite repeated reports of its imminent demise, still has fighters who are bigger names and bigger draws than can typically be found in the MMA world. But with about 63 different belts and sometimes far too many months between title defenses, boxing could take a lesson from the UFC.

The lesson of the night here Saturday, however – other than to avoid walking into a Rampage left hook – is that if you continually put on a good show, the people will come en masse.

Especially if it's the only show in town.

Jon Baum is an assistant managing editor at Yahoo! Sports.

We addressed topics like: Is Wanderlei Silva shot? Can the UFC give Quinton Jackson the next title shot? Who is the best UFC heavyweight, Frank Mir or Brock Lesnar? Can Mir stay off the mat in the rematch? What are the fights you're most looking forward to in 2009?

Make sure you check here after UFC 94 in Las Vegas.

Yahoo! Sports/ESPNRadio1100 will being doing a live post-fight show after the big B.J. Penn v. Georges St. Pierre card.

Click below to listen to Iole interview:

Click below to listen to Bernstein interview:

Click below to listen to Cofield's breakdown of the card:

Rashad Evans was ripped left and right on his season of "The Ultimate Fighter." He was too small and Matt Hughes said his attitude sucked. UFC president Dana White thought he was the worst prospect of all the heavyweights on Season 2. He overcame everything thrown his way that season to win the title and now he's blazed his way through some of the best 205-pounders in the world to become the UFC light heavyweight champ. In an all-out slugfest, it was ground work that did it for the former Michigan State wrestler who stopped Forrest Griffin via TKO at 2:46 of the third round Saturday.

Evans caught a right kick from Griffin and was able to score a takedown. The former champ's guard was loose and allowed Evans to rise to his feet two or three times to land some solid blows. It was the last time that spelled doom for Griffin. Evans stood up, landed four rights, the first and third really rocked Griffin. Evans then switched to his left and pounded out Griffin with six big shots.

"He kept smiling so it didn't know if he was hurt." 

Griffin was hurt badly. One of those first three lefts that Evans landed on the ground made Griffin's eyes roll back in his head. After the stoppage, as Griffin tried to stand he stumbled badly. He agreed with the stoppage:

"I was flailing not fighting back. It was actually his punches giving my body motion," joked Griffin. "I'm not sure if I was hurt when I went down. That was a lazy guard. I'm better than that. I don't remember being hurt. I just remember waking up."

A humble Evans was still taking in the moment as he sat on top of the heap in the deepest weight class in mixed martial arts:

"It sounds real good," said Evans reacting to being called the UFC light heavyweight champ. "It was a great fight. Forrest gave me everything I could handle in the first two rounds. I took me a while to get warmed up. But I got there."

The margin between Evans and Griffin was razor thin in the first two rounds. Cage Writer had Griffin leading 2-0 but only because the Georgian landed some of his leg kicks. Evans was actually dictating the pace of the fight just missing on a dozen or so counter right hands and big left hooks.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira never had a shot. Frank Mir, the submission specialist, did his best Klitschko impression by schooling Big Nog in a boxing match. Mir pounded Nogueira time after time in the opening round with right uppercuts fighting out of a southpaw stance. Nogueira simply couldn't see the punches coming and went down several times in the round.

It was the same deal in the second as Mir doubled up left hooks and floored Nogueira. He jumped on top and threw nine more strikes. Referee Herb Dean had to step in to save a stunned Nogueira at 1:54 of the second.

Mir immediately walked over to the side of cage to see where Brock Lesnar was s