RECOMMENDATION:  Definitely worth the replay.  Solid card all around with every fight being competitive.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *

It’s 10:00 Eastern time on March 1, and you know what that means.  Cue the hideous gladiator montage, get your sepia on, and pretend that this nu-metal theme song isn’t horrible, because it’s time for UFC 82.  Seriously, I loved the WEC’s opening sequence (Bootsy Collins, people!), and this is the best the UFC can do?  Still?  I will continue to beat the dead horse until something changes.

Mike Goldberg and his fabulous hair welcome us to the show, and what’s this I hear?  A huge announcement?  Hmmm….. I wonder what that could be.  A network TV deal, perhaps?  Word on the street is that FOX was in negotiations earlier this week.  But let’s not jump the gun.  I have to say however, that in the wake of EliteXC’s announcement anything other than a network deal would seem like small potatoes. 

They hype a few fights, and we get some hyperbole about how this card is so loaded.  Indeed it is, so how about we quit talking about it and get to the fights?  What say you?

FIRST FIGHT:  JON FITCH vs. CHRIS “THE PROFESSOR” WILSON (Welterweight)

Chris Wilson gets the chance to debut tonight against the freight train that is Jon Fitch.  Wilson wants to spoil the UFC’s plan to give Fitch a title shot, which is a plan I was unaware of.  Since, if Karo Parisyan gets past Thiago Alves next month, there’ll be two title fights before that has a chance of happening and all.  I’m just sayin’. 

Wilson comes down the aisle with a Phillies cap, which scores him big points in my book.  He’s also got some jungle music or something playing over the speakers.  It reminds me of something playing in Kramer’s apartment or something.  I like this guy so far.  Too bad for him that Fitch is, at this point, arguably the second-best welterweight in the world right now.  He hasn’t lost since 2002, which is ridiculous.  I always thought Fitch was a lanky guy, but it looks like Wilson has a 1” reach advantage.  Should be interesting.  Wilson’s been on a bit of a roll himself lately. 

ROUND ONE:  They circle to start out, and Fitch lands a leg kick.  Wilson grabs a clinch and throws some knees to the body.  Wilson looks for a takedown, and Fitch has none of it.  Front kick by Wilson.  Fitch lands a little right hand and a leg kick.  Wilson grabs some underhooks and tosses Fitch around, then lands a big left hand.  Fitch backs off and eats another shot.  Wilson looks fantastic so far.  Head kick lands for Wilson.  Fitch looks for the takedown and eats a knee, but he drives Wilson against the fence and eventually scores the takedown.  Wilson looks to free his hips to stand back up.  Fitch continues to try to get Wilson flattened out, but the ref stands them up.  There’s even a few boos for the standup.  There’s a change.  Body kick lands for Wilson.  Leg kick by Wilson, and Fitch shoots in quickly for a takedown.  Wilson quickly looks for an omoplata, but winds up with Fitch in his guard.  Wilson lands elbows from the bottom as Fitch struggles for position, and round one ends.  Good round will go to Wilson.

ROUND TWO:  Wilson is definitely using his slight reach advantage well.  Leg kick lands for Fitch.  Body kick is caught by Fitch, and Fitch looks to get the takedown from it, but Wilson defends well.  Fitch is definitely wary of Wilson’s strikes at this point.  He grabs a leg and looks to drag Wilson down.  He succeeds eventually, and is in Wilson’s half guard.  He transitions to full guard.  Fitch looks to land elbows from the guard.  He pushes forward and moves into side control.  Elbows to the side of the head by Fitch.  Fitch lands some punches to the head of Wilson.  Wilson looks to roll out, but Fitch holds him and transitions to mount.  Beautiful work by Fitch, but Wilson gets him into half guard before Fitch is able to cause damage.  Fitch continues to pepper Wilson with strikes on the ground.  Wilson scrambles, and Fitch is able to stay on top and land more strikes.  He moves almost into the north-south position as round two ends.  Big round for Fitch after absorbing some punishment.

ROUND THREE:  Inside leg kick by Fitch, and another.  Wilson answers with a body kick and an uppercut.  Wilson misses a combination.  He almost gets Fitch down with a throw, but they’re back to the feet.  Nice right hand lands for Fitch.  Leg kick by Fitch.  Body kick lands with authority from Wilson.  Right hand lands for Fitch that seems to stun Wilson briefly.  Wilson misses a spinning back kick.  Fitch comes in with a combination of punches and kicks.  Leg kick lands for Wilson, and Fitch answers.  Wilson has some very unorthodox striking, and it would work really well if anything was landing, but nothing is.  Fitch charges in and takes Wilson down.  Wilson goes to the butterfly guard.  Big elbows from the top by Fitch, and he stands up.  Wilson begins to scramble, but Fitch jumps back to the mat and gets into Wilson’s guard, where he lands punches to the body and elbows to the head.  Wilson looks to neutralize Fitch’s position, but Fitch is a wild man.  Wilson looks to push Fitch off with his legs, but Fitch charges back in.  He lands in a triangle choke and lands some punches.  The triangle looks pretty tight, but the round ends without Fitch having tapped.  He walks away not looking like he’s just been in a triangle choke for 20 seconds.  Fitch takes the third round.

RESULT:  Jon Fitch by Unanimous Decision.

STAR RATING:  (**+)  There was a surprising lack of urgency in the third round, seeing as it was likely even at that point.  That having been said, Fitch neutralized Wilson’s gameplan perfectly after the first round with a business-like approach.

RAMIFICATIONS:  Fitch wins yet again, and takes another step towards a title shot.  Wilson certainly served himself well, though, as it’s tough to hang with Fitch for three rounds and take as little damage as he did.  He’ll definitely be one to watch.  I think that after GSP and Serra fight, if Parisyan gets past Thiago Alves then Parisyan should get the next title shot.  After that (and likely another fight for Fitch), Jon Fitch should get a go at the champ.

Matt Serra is shown on the big screen to a chorus of boos (people love GSP), followed by Urijah Faber, who gets a pretty good ovation.

That’s followed by a promo for the main event and UFC 83.  And by the way, UFC 83 is going to be another insanely good card, and that crowd is going to be rabid.  Good stuff. 

After the promos, we get a highlight of Marc Coleman being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.  Coleman really was an innovator in the sport, being a pioneer in the ground and pound style. 

Following the highlight, Rogan interviews Coleman in the crowd, and Coleman announces a comeback of all things.  And his opponent?  Brock Lesnar.  Wow.  Great move by the UFC.  This gives Lesnar a name opponent and a legend in the sport that he should have little difficulty in defeating.  I love Marc Coleman, but it is not 2000 anymore.  Should be interesting.  But anyway, on to the next fight.

SECOND FIGHT:  EVAN TANNER vs. YUSHIN “THUNDER” OKAMI (Middleweight)

Okami enters to the Kill Bill theme, which is excellent.  He says he wants to finish the fight tonight.  We shall see.  Tanner wins the battle of entrance music with “All Along the Watchtower” (the Hendrix version.)  He looks pretty nervous and un-Evan Tanner-like as he strolls to the Octagon.  He walks into the cage, and he really looks uncomfortable.  I don’t know if that’s the best sign for him.

ROUND ONE:  They feel each other out for a bit and Tanner throws a jab that misses.  He charges and Okami retreats.  Left hand lands for Tanner.  Right lands for Okami.  Body kick by Okami.  Right hand lands for Tanner, and Okami answers with a big straight left hand that staggers Tanner.  He follows Tanner down, but Tanner grabs a hold of Okami and drives him backward.  Okami stands, and Tanner looks to take him down.  Good sprawl by Okami, and Tanner looks like he’s awake now.  Inside knee by Tanner.  As they’re against the fence, there’s a notable size difference between the two, with Okami being the larger man.  Okami lands a right hook, and they separate.  Inside leg kick by Tanner, and Okami gets the plumb and knees Tanner in the head.  Another knee by Okami.  Goldberg plugs the Spanish-speaking UFC site for the “Latin-speaking fans.”  Mike Goldberg, everyone.  Right hand lands for Okami.  Inside leg kick by Tanner, and Okami lands a punching combo.  Another leg kick by Tanner.  Left hand by Okami.  Okami looks for a head kick, and it’s blocked.  Round one ends, and it’ll go to Okami.

ROUND TWO:  Okami lands a right hand.  Tanner takes a kick to the body, and a punching combination.  Front kick by Tanner.  Okami continues to pepper Tanner, and he grabs a clinch, landing a knee to the face.  Tanner periodically charges in, but doesn’t do much other than try to shove Okami.  Okami lands another straight left.  Okami is landing at will, but seems unable to really hurt Tanner.  Tanner throws some punches that are way off the mark, then looks for the clinch against the fence.  This turns out to be his undoing out of nowhere when Okami lands a huge knee to the head of Tanner, knocking him cold. 

RESULT:  Okami by KO at 3:00 of round 2.

STAR RATING:  (**)  Not a whole lot to it other than the big knee to end the fight.  Nice work by Okami, and Tanner did not look great in his comeback effort.  We get no post-fight interview with the winner, so hopefully that means more fights. 

RAMIFICATIONS:  Okami is pretty much the only choice for a middleweight title shot after Silva-Henderson.  Not much else to say on that front.  As for Tanner, his future remains to be seen.  I think he’s probably always got a home in the UFC for as long as he wants it, but I wonder how much he still wants it after tonight.

Apparently it was too much to hope that we’d move directly to the next fight, as we get an ad for UFN 13, which will be an admittedly awesome card, but still.  Fifty-five dollars should get me some fights, right?  Two fights in an hour is not enough.  But that doesn’t stop Goldberg from hyping UFC 85, which is four events away.  I’m just sayin.

THIRD FIGHT:  ALESSIO “LEGIONNARIUS” SAKARA vs. CHRIS “THE CRIPPLER” LEBEN (Middleweight)

I’m reminded in the highlight reel that I mentioned both of these guys fighting Drew McFedries, but that’s not right.  Leben fought Terry Martin.  I’ve wanted to see Martin and McFedries lock horns for a while, so apparently my brain got its wires crossed.  But anyway, Sakara makes his way to the Octagon with Wilson Gouveia and other ATT members in tow.  Leben follows, and he couldn’t look more different today than he did on the first season of TUF.  Luckily he’s fighting out of Hawaii, which gives us a chance to hear Bruce Buffer’s pronunciation of that state.

ROUND ONE:  Leben comes out and smacks a couple of kicks into Sakara, and Sakara answers with some punches.  Big right and left by Sakara, and Leben doesn’t flinch.  Right hand by Sakara, and Leben lands another kick.  Leg kick by Leben.  Leben lands a left hand and a body kick, and Sakara lands some big punches.  Right hand by Sakara, and Leben lands a few to Sakara’s chin.  Superman punch lands for Sakara, and Leben has a ridiculous chin.  Another big shot by Sakara, and Leben answers with a couple of leg kicks.  Body kick by Leben, and Sakara lands a combination.  Straight right by Leben, and Sakara answers.  Leben grabs the clinch and lands a knee, then some uppercuts and a big left hand.  Sakara crumbles, and Leben finishes him offi with some more strikes on the ground.  Sakara is upset with the stoppage, but really Herb Dean could have stopped it earlier.  Sakara was taking undefended shots.  He may not have thought he was hurt, but his hands were down. 

RESULT:  Leben at 3:16 of round one. 

STAR RATING: (***-)  That was a fun fight to watch – never a dull moment. 

RAMIFICATIONS:  If Sakara had a better chin, he’d be a real force.  But he seems to get knocked out quite often when he gets into a slugfest.  Leben finishes his second straight fight with strikes against a striker, and he’s another guy who will always have a home in the Octagon.  He’ll need another couple of significant wins before sniffing a title shot, though – especially if Silva is still the champ.

FOURTH FIGHT:  CHEICK KONGO vs. HEATH “TEXAS CRAZY HORSE” HERRING (Heavyweight)

They’re promoting this as a possible number-one contender’s fight, and I think the Arlovski-O’Brien fight could almost have been promoted the same.  I’m excited to see that fight.  But back to the matter at hand.  I’ve got Kongo taking this one.  I don’t know if I’m buying that he’s the next champ at this point, but training with “Rampage” can’t do anything but help.  And come to think of it, when was the last time we had a heavyweight fight that was promoted as a number one contender’s bout where the winner actually got a title shot?  We get a few verbal shenanigans from Bruce Buffer, and it’s time to get this thing going.

ROUND ONE:  Herring charges out of his corner and immediately buckles Kongo with a right hand before the Frenchman has even moved.  Kongo recovers quickly, however, and they clinch against the fence.  In a surprising turn of events, Kongo takes Herring down.  He almost gets caught in a kimura, but he gets out and punishes Herring with some punches on the way up.  Herring lands a couple of good punches and has a kick blocked, then Kongo catches a leg kick and takes Herring down again.  Herring is able to switch positions nicely and ends up getting Kongo against the fence.  Kongo is unbelievably better on the ground at this point.  Kongo stands up and throws some knees to the inside of Herring’s legs.  He grabs a takedown on Herring and gets in a somewhat mounted position with Herring sitting up against the fence.  Kongo works the body and looks to land shots to the head.  He pushes Herring down, but Herring gets into top position again.  Kongo stands back up immediately and they clinch against the fence.  Herring gets a takedown, but Kongo rolls right into a mount.  He throws some strikes, and Herring gives up his back.  Kongo leaves it in favor of throwing punches, but he misses and goes back to the ground where Herring resides.  The round ends in that position, and I’m giving the round to Kongo.  I can’t believe how much his groundwork has improved.  Transitions aplenty by Kongo that round.

ROUND TWO:  Herring looks for another right hand immediately, but Kongo evades and gets Herring down.  Kongo is in the half guard, then stands up.  He eats a big upkick from Herring on the way up, then kicks Herring’s legs.  Herring is allowed to stand, and he charges in immediately looking to throw punches.  They clinch and Kongo looks for knees.  Kongo grabs a huge double leg takedown and has Herring in a headlock of sorts.  He moves behind Herring and looks to take his back.  Herring then traps an arm and very nicely flips into top position from north-south.  He moves into side control and lands some big knees to the body.  Kongo does not like the knees, and he’s watching the clock to see how much longer he has to take them.  Herring isn’t looking to advance, but he is continually landing unobstructed knees to the body.  Rogan points out that he’s in position for a north-south choke, but he doesn’t take advantage.  I wondered about that myself.  The round ends, and that one goes to Herring.  Good fight thus far.

ROUND THREE:  They exchange body kicks immediately, and it goes to the ground.  Kongo is almost caught in a guillotine, but he escapes and looks to take Herring’s back.  He throws some knees to Herring’s body, but nothing like the ones he was absorbing.  Some fools start booing as they jockey for position.  Kongo looks for a choke (kind of), and they get back to the feet.  Herring is throwing some wild shots, and he bulrushes Kongo into the cage.  They get back into the same position with Herring on all fours and Kongo looking for position from behind.  They stand back up and Herring takes a leg.  Kongo looks to land strikes to the body.  Herring rolls Kongo over onto his back and takes side control.  Kongo looks to push off of the cage, but Herring holds him in place and goes for knees.  This is another fight that showcases the need for knees to the head on the ground.  Those need to be legalized.  Kongo tries to posture out, but Herring holds him down and lands some elbows and punches.  Knees to the body by Herring.  Herring blasts the stomach of Kongo with punches.  Herring moves into mount and looks to throw more leather.  Kongo tries to escape by rolling, but is unable.  I’ve got that round going to Herring, and both of these guys looked better than they’ve ever looked in the Octagon here.

RESULT:  Herring by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

STAR RATING:  (***+)  Really entertaining fight, and really surprising.  I think everyone expected a slugfest here, but Kongo was very surprising on the ground. Herring was surprising as well, as his cardio was as good as advertised.

RAMIFICATIONS:  Well, I can’t imagine that Herring will get a title shot, at least as long as Nogueira is champion (since he’s lost thrice to Big Nog.)  So it remains to be seen what effect this fight will have on the title situation.  But Kongo looked better than ever here.  He was just unable to escape from beneath Herring.  But either way, Herring gets redemption for what has thus far been a lackluster UFC career, and Kongo won’t be seen as completely one-dimensional anymore.

We get even more hype for the main event, and I move to the kitchen for a sandwich. 

FIFTH FIGHT: MAIN EVENT FOR THE MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE – ANDERSON “THE SPIDER” SILVA (c) vs. DAN “HENDO” HENDERSON

Goldberg describes Henderson as the “immovable force” and Silva as the “unstoppable object”.  Mike Goldberg, ladies and gentlemen.  Both men look calm and cool as always, with Henderson even cracking a smile.  Both guys get a nice ovation from the crowd, so it’s good to see that Ohio has forgiven Silva for handing Rich Franklin two beatdowns. 

ROUND ONE:  No touching gloves by Silva as the round starts.  Leg kick lands for Henderson to start.  They circle for a minute or so.  Right hand is blocked by Silva, and they scuffle briefly.  Head kick by Silva.  Each man is wary of the other’s strikes.  Head kicks blocked by Henderson.  Henderson gets a clinch and takes Silva down.  He looks for elbows from the half guard.  He covers Silva’s nose and mouth and throws hammer fists to the side of Silva’s head.  Silva is keeping Henderson close, but Hendo continues to throw the hammers.  Short elbow by Henderson, followed by a big nasty one.  Back to the hammer fists.  Henderson moves into side control and looks for more elbows.  Silva scrambles and brings Henderson back into full guard.  Henderson looks for a big right hand but misses, and round one is over.  It goes to Henderson.

ROUND TWO:  Front kick lands for Silva, followed by a leg kick.  Henderson feigns a punch.  Body kick by Henderson, and Silva answers with a punching combo.  Body kick by Silva, and Henderson looks for the overhand right.  Silva comes in on him, and Henderson drags the champ to the ground.  Silva gets on top and lands a few punches, and they stand.  Henderson looks to clinch against the fence.  Knees to the leg by Henderson.  Henderson looks for a trip takedown from the clinch, but Silva defends.  Knee to the head by Henderson, and Silva escapes the clinch.  Silva lands a left and a knee to the face, followed by a flurry of punches.  Henderson seems a little woozy and looks for a takedown.  He ends up on his back, and Silva follows.  Shots to the body by Silva.  Silva is in the half guard and looks to advance.  Silva lands punches to the body.  Henderson looks to spin, and Silva takes his back.  Back elbow by Henderson, but Silva advances position and throws strikes from the back.  Silva rolls and gets the body triangle.  He punishes Henderson with strikes.  He looks for the rear naked choke with 15 seconds left, and he chokes out Dan Henderson.  Absolutely unbelievable.  Anderson Silva is a machine. 

RESULT:  Silva by submission at 4:52 of round 2.  No one is beating Anderson Silva.  Nobody.  Goldberg calls him the best in the world at 185, and that is not hyperbole, friends.  That is truth.

STAR RATING:  (****-)  Not the most exciting fight, and not the most historic.  But Dan Henderson was the guy that was supposed to give Silva the hardest time.  Henderson had a great first round, and then got completely dominated at the end of the second. 

RAMIFICATIONS:  Silva basically cements his status as the unquestioned best pound for pound fighter in the world.  Fedor has no argument against this guy.  Silva has destroyed contender after contender easily.  As for Henderson, he’s got a lot of fun fights ahead of him despite his two losses in his first two fights.  You can’t get much tougher than fighting Rampage and Silva in consecutive fights.  I’d like to see him take on Marquardt or Franklin, to be quite honest.

For once, we move directly to the next fight without any filler.

SIXTH FIGHT (prelim):  JOSH “KOS” KOSCHECK vs. DUSTIN HAZELETT (Welterweight)

Koscheck is greeted by the customary chorus of boos, but they don’t last like they used to. 

ROUND ONE:  They circle to start, and Hazelett lands a head kick and a big running knee.  Koscheck recovers quickly and begins throwing haymakers.  He catches Hazelett with a few, but Hazelett puts an end to the flurry with a  jab that snaps Koscheck’s head back.  Another jab by Hazelett.  Punch-kick combo by Koscheck, followed by a hard body shot.  Right hand stuns Hazelett, and they back up against the cage.  Koscheck pushes him against the fence, and Hazelett grabs a guillotine.  He pulls guard, but Koscheck defends well.  Hazelett lets it go and they resum striking.  Jabs by Koscheck answered by Hazelett’s leg kicks.  Head kick lands for Hazelett, and Kos counters with some punches.  Right hand lands for Koscheck.  Body and leg kicks by Koscheck, and he lands some punches.  Leg kick lands.  Hazelett lands a jab, and Koscheck gets a huge double leg takedown.  Hazelett grabs a triangle out of nowhere with 20 seconds left, but he’s not in a great position for it and Koscheck is able to avoid being choked as the round expires.  Great round, and a tough one to call.  I’d give it to Koscheck by a hair.

ROUND TWO:  Jab lands for Koscheck.  Each punch that Koscheck lands seems to stagger Hazelett just a little.  Koscheck lands a leg kick and body punch, and Hazelett kicks Koscheck in the midsection.  Koscheck lands a big right hand and floors Hazelett with a head kick.  Hazelett gets right back up, but he’s out on his feet.  Kos pounces and Herb Dean calls a stop to the action.

RESULT:  Koscheck by TKO at 1:24 of round 2.

STAR RATING:  (***)  Very entertaining fight.

RAMIFICATIONS:  Koscheck looked fantastic.  He jumped right back into the thick of the division with this performance.  If Sanchez won tonight, there could be a rematch in the works for them.  Hazelett, in the meantime, took a huge jump up.  I hardly remembered any other time I saw him (and I did watch is earlier UFC fights), but I’ll surely remember him now.  He’s only 21 years old, so it’ll be exciting to see him develop from here.

We get a rundown of the event by Rogan and Goldberg, and this is another time where I wouldn’t mind seeing a fight or two.  And of course we get another promo for upcoming events when we could be watching fights.  The year started out in such promising fashion with event pacing, and now we get this.  There’s really no need for more promos at the very end of the show.  Or at least there’s no need for the exact same promo we saw earlier.  This is where everyone knows the show is over and they just turn it off.

Also, wasn’t there supposed to be a huge announcement?  Was that the return of Marc Coleman?  Because they didn’t even need to mention an announcement if that was it.