Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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The UFC hit Columbus, OH Saturday night for their latest pay per view event, UFC 68. It was a big card, with some premier headline fights, and the event lived up to the hype. My cousin took the event in live, and delivers a recap of the main bouts as well as the full results of the entire card in his wrap of the event. WOW! What a great experience. A live UFC pay per view event.

Yesterday was one of the best days I can remember. Columbus, Ohio was absolutley crazy and we were sure ready for the Ultimate Fighting Championship 68.

The atmosphere was simply electric. I have been to a lot of sporting events in my life, but this one takes the cake.

The main event was the highlight of the evening. 43-year old UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture was back after a brief retirement to take on Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.

Couture was a former champ in both the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions in the past himself. He always had problems with heavier guys with long reaches. The reigning champ Sylvia has Couture by six inches and almosy forty pounds. The difference had zero effect on Couture.

About fifteen seconds into the fight, Couture landed an inside leg kick and followed it up with a right hook. They both connected and Sylvia went down. Couture jumped in for the kill but made the mistake or going for the submission instead of the knockout. The entire first round was a wrestling match for position and Couture dominated.

Rounds two thru five were all pretty similar as Couture continued to dominate. He was quicker and stronger and was able to take the larger Sylvia down at will. All judges scored the fight a shutout on thier cards, 50 to 45. The fight wasn't even that close. Randy Couture has the biggest heart in the sport and he showed it last night in what was a phenomenal performance on his way to becoming the three time Heavyweight Champion of the UFC.

Also on the card, which could have easily been a main event, was Rich Franklin returning after his beatdown at the hands of Anderson Silva. He was set to take on up and coming Jason MacDonald.

The old Rich Franklin showed up. He outclassed MacDonald with his striking and ground and pound. MacDonald was a very tough fight that lasted two full rounds. He was unable to continue before round three due to massive blows he felt thru the first and second. Even though Jason MacDoanld was solid on the ground and was able to block a lot of shots early on, Franklin simply wasn't going to be denied. The Ohio native is a fan favorite and he didn't let anyone down last night.

Another crowd pleaser, Matt Hughes also returned to his winning ways. He simply outclassed Chris Lytle and beat him up for three rounds. To Lytle's credit he didn't give and continued to fight until the end. It wasn't nearly enough as he was shutout on the scorecards a la Tim Sylvia.

The knockout of the night goes to Jason Lambert who unloaded a nasty left hand to Renato "Babalu" Sobral. The punch shook his whole body and knocked him silly. Look for this on highlight shows for a long long time to come.

Full results:

-Jamie Varner def. Jason Gilliam by TKO (choked unconscious from rear naked choke) at 1:34 of Round 1

-Gleison Tibau def. Jason Dent by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

-Jon Fitch def. Luigi Fioravanti by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:05 of Round 2

-Matt Hamill def. Rex Holman by TKO (referee stoppage due to strikes) at 4:00 of Round 1

-Jason Lambert def. Renato "Babalu" Sobral by KO at 3:36 of Round 2

-Matt Hughes def. Chris Lytle by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

-Rich Franklin def. Jason MacDonald by TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2

-Martin Kampmann def. Drew McFedries submission (side triangle choke) at 4:06 of Round 1

UFC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT

-Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)

Overall, the evening couldn't have been better. I saw a great night of fights first hand and came away very satisfied. There are talks of possible Pennsylvania shows in the future and more Ohio shows also.

If true, I will be the first in line.