Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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It was a great night to be a fight fan last night.  UFC 88 was on pay per view, and HBO's Boxing After Dark had a great lighweight fight between Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz and Michael Katsidas.  In the main event at UFC 88, Rashad Evans shocked the mma world but knocking out UFC poster boy Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell.  My cousin recaps both events for us this morning in his latest. Last night was a great night to be a fight fan. We had UFC 88 taking place and also a HBO boxing doubleheader. Both started at the same time so thank god for the DVR.

UFC 88 took place in Atlanta, Georgia and the fans had to leave the arena saying "Wow". Overall it was a pretty good fight card but the main event was simply a shocker.

Former light heavyweight title and UFC poster boy Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell was knocked out cold by up and coming star Rashad Evans. It was one of the most brutal one punch knockouts I remember seeing and it was very unexpected.

I really liked Rashad's chances to win coming into this one. I felt as he would be much quicker and too athletic for Liddell. That being said, the last way I thought he would get his hand raise would be to out strike the striker.

The first round was very slow and more of a feeling out process. There were a decent shots exchanged but nothing significant. Neither guy had any intentions of taking the fight to the ground. Everything would change in the second round.

When the second round started both guys again were looking more to counter punch. A little less than two minutes into the round both fighters started to throw a bomb at the same time. Rashad's shorter quicker punch landed and put Liddell to sleep. It was a perfectly timed violent right hand and Chuck was done before he hit the ground. Liddell was out on the ground for more than a minute before he was awake. It was just a picture perfect knockout.

Very few people gave Evans a chance to win this fight. Everyone was already talking about a Liddell versus Forrest Griffin title fight. Now it will be Rashad getting a much deserved chance at the belt, that was confirmed by the UFC after the fight.

In what was billed as the co-main event, Rich Franklin showed how good he really is, no matter what weight class. He simply outclassed Matt Hamill on his way to a 3^rd round TKO win courtesy of a great body kick. It was complete domination and Franklin hopefully will stay in the 205 weight class. Staying there is his best bet to win another title.

Nate Marquardt continued to look impressive as he destroyed Martin Kampmann. He came out firing on all cylinders and showed why he is an elite fighter in the middleweight division. It only one minute and twenty two second to get rid of Kampmann by TKO. Marquardt was spot on with every strike and looks better every time he steps inside the octagon.

Full results:

Rashad Evans def. Chuck Liddell via KO

Rich Franklin def. Matt Hamill via TKO (body kick) Rd 3.

Dan Henderson def. Rousimar Palhares via Unanimous Decision

Nate Marquardt def. Martin Kampmann via TKO (Strikes) Rd 1.

Dong Hyun Kim def. Matt Brown via Split Decision

Kurt Pellegrino def. Thiago Tavares via Unanimous Decision

Tim Boetsch def. Mike Patt via TKO (Strikes) Rd 1.

Jason MacDonald def. Jason Lambert via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Rd 2.

Ryo Chonan def. Roan Carneiro via Split Decision

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HBO's Boxing After Dark was host to one of my favorite fighters. Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz was looking to regain his winning ways against Michael Katsidis, another fighter coming off of his first career loss.

In what many people thought had fight of the year potential, Diaz looked hungrier and much faster. It was solid overall performance by Diaz as he won a split decision. Somehow one of the judges scored the fight for Katsidis, which is an absolute joke.

It was easy to see the fire in the eyes of the Baby Bull. He was fighting in his hometown of Houston, Texas and had a lot to prove after suffering his first defeat a few months back. Juan took early control of the fight with a solid attack and went back to working the body, his bread and butter.

The early rounds were all Juan Diaz as he built a very comfortable lead on the scorecards. Katsidis kept coming and continued to throw punches but wasn't able to match the accuracy and output of Diaz.

Neither fighter was ever really hurt but the frustration on the face, along with a huge mouse under his eye, showed on Katsidis as the fight wore on. The attack of Juan Diaz will do that to his opponents. He likes to throw multiple punch combinations and just keeps coming forward. His chin once again was very solid and he walked right thru everything that Katsidis threw at him.

All in all, it was a great night to be a fight fan.  There was a lot of hard hitting action and excitement. The DVR once again came in very handy and I enjoyed every second of every fight.