Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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Last night was a good night for fight fans.  We had the world's top heavyweight boxer (Wladimir Klitschko) facing the last man to beat him (Lamon Brewster) on HBO ... and UFC 73: Stacked on pay-per-view.  We saw the favorites dominate on both cards, and my cousin Scott was locked away watching it all so he could report on it today for us.

UFC 73 recap 

Last night in Sacamento, the UFC once again put on an incredible card. It was billed "Stacked" and boy was it ever. 

Two title fights took place and both were complete domination by the champions.  

Anderson Silva destroyed another challenger winning his fight by TKO in the first round over Nate Marquardt. He is simply the best all around striker in the sport of mixed martial arts. The scary thing to me is that he has been getting better every time I see him in the octagon. 

Marquardt did a good job in the early stages of the fight getting Silva to the ground. He was unable to take advantage and was forced back to his feet. That is the last place you want to be when facing "Spider" Silva. The Middleweight champion regained his belt as he was landing huge unanswered shots that forced the referee to step in. If Silva continues to get better and look the way he has in his last few fights, I don't think anyone can beat him. 

With the win, a rematch with former champion Rich Franklin is probably going to take place at UFC 77. A possible location is Cincinnati,Ohio which is Franklin's home town. 

In the other title fight, UFC Lightweight champion Sean Sherk put on a wrestling clinic in route to a five round unanimous decision over Hermes Franca. The match was never in question as Sherk won every round and Franca had no answer for anything he did. All five rounds went the same way. Sherk would take Franca down with ease and beat him up on the ground with elbows and punches. Hermes landed a few good shots when standing but after he hit Sherk, he immediatley was taken down for more punishment.

The victory was probably the most dominating win in the lightweight division in quite some time. 

The grudge match between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans failed to live up to the hype. Many fans thought this would be the fight of the night. It turned out to be a dud. The three round contest ended in a draw and rightfully so as niether fighter deserved a victory.  

Ortiz came out in the first round and looked pretty impressive landing a quick takedown. He followed it up with some decent punches and elbows. The fight then got back to their feet and nothing really happened the rest of the match. In the second round Tito was deducted one point for holding onto the octagon cage while avoided a takedown. That ended up costing him the fight as all three judges scored the fight 28-28. The second and third round were very similar. Both fighters looked for takedowns and couldn't get them so they laid against the cage for what seemed like hours trying to get the other guy down. I don't think either guy did enough to win and agree with the draw. There was talk of a rematch right after the fight, it will have to be better than the first installment. 

Former Pride champion Antonio Nogueira made his much anticipated UFC debut in what was a very entertaining contest. Nogueira won a three round unanimous decision over Heath Herring. The fight was action packed and went back and forth most of the fifteen minutes. 

Herring should have won the fight and wasted a golden opportunity to finish the fight in the opening round. He landed a perfectly timed head kick and had Nogueira practically out. Instead of going in for the kill by jumping on him, he let the fight get back to the feet and he was unable to turn the heat up. It was a horrible mistake. The first round ended and it was easy to see that Nogueira didn't know where he was. Once the second round started, Herring let him get his senses back when he decided to do nothing the first two minutes of the round. Nogueira then dominated the rest of the fight and got the impressive win. 

Full fight results: 

    * Champion Anderson Silva def. Nathan Marquardt via TKO (strikes) -- Round 1, 4:50

    * Kenny Florian def. Alvin Robinson via submission (strikes) -- Round 1, 4:30

    * Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans ruled a unanimous draw

    * Champion Sean Sherk def. Hermes Franca via unanimous decision

    * Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Heath Herring via unanimous decision

    * Stephan Bonnar def. Mike Nickels via submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 1, 2:14

    * Jorge Gurgel def. Diego Saraiva via unanimous decision

    * Chris Lytle def. Jason Gilliam via submission (triangle choke) -- Round 1, 2:15

    * Frank Edgar def. Mark Bocek via TKO (strikes) -- Round 1, 4:55 

Another UFC event, another entertaining night for fight fans. It was a great card with some very good fights. The two champions that fought were dominant and look to keep their belts for a long long time. 

I can't wait to see what fighters will get the chance to become the next champions. I know one thing, they do a great job of making decisions on who fights who. The best fighters always end up in the cage against each other and that's the way it's supposed to be.

Klitschko vs Brewster recap 

There are many people who are saying that boxing is dying and the heavyweight division is a joke. We saw a few things that won't change those people's mind anytime soon. 

Wladimir Klitschko held on to his part of the Heavyweight Championship with a TKO victory over Lamon Brewster. The champion looked pretty good in the fight but it was his opponent that made the fight bad. 

Lamon Brewster held a TKO win over Klitschko and said he was going to shock the world yet again. In order to pull off an upset, you have to come looking to fight and not just collect a paycheck however. Brewster did nothing at all in the fight and quit on his stool after round six. Buddy McGirt, Brewster's trainer said to him after the fifth round that if he didn't do anything he would stop the fight. Lamon did the same thing he did all the other rounds, throw a punch or two and ate a bunch of Klitschko's jabs. When he sat down after the end of the sixth, his corner told him they didn't like what they saw and asked him if he wanted to continue. No answer from the former champion. Brewster was then told they were going to throw in the towel and replied "OK." So much for regaining the belt he called his. 

As far as Wladimir Klitschko goes, he did nothing to make me think he isn't the best heavyweight in the world. His jab is excellent and he showed good movement again for a large man. I think he was in amazement also when the fight was called to a halt. There was no point in the fight where Brewster was in that bad of trouble or even hurt.  

What and who is up next for Klitschko and the heavyweight division? Nobody knows and thats what's bad about boxing. There are too many organizations and title holders. The only thing that I can say for sure is that Wladimir Klitschko is the best of the best among the weight class. 

We can just hope that he gets the opportunity to unify the titles.