Written by Scott Swerbinsky

---

My cousin Scott "Spoon" Swerbinsky purchased and watched Saturday nights UFC pay per view card, as he does with all the mixed martial arts events and big fights. He recapped the event for us, noting that the co-main events failed to live up to their lofty expectations. In what was supposed to be one of the best UFC cards in sometime, MMA fans were left scratching their heads. The co-main events both fell far short of fan expectations.

In the Heavyweight title fight between Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski, a fireworks display was expected to take place. Their two prior fights only combined to last three minutes. Instead of bombs being throw the two decided to make it a boring boxing match that looked like the current state of Heavyweight boxing. It was one of the worst fights I have seen in some time. It went the full five rounds and Sylvia won a decision. I don’t see how these rounds really could have been scored. It WAS that bad. I expected much much more out of the two powerful big men.

The co-main event was the much awaited rematch between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.  This one ended in dispute. Tito was dominating his opponent with huge elbows that were landing consistently flush. Referee Herb Dean stepped in at 1:18 of the first round. It appeared as if Shamrock was hurt but not close to being knocked out. Ken got up right away and questioned the stoppage. It was probably the right move as he couldn’t defend himself ... but given the bad blood of the two fighter the fans wanted to get their moneys worth.  After the fight Tito said he would gladly do it again.  

Another fight I thought was going to be good was Frank Mir, the former heavyweight champ, taking on Dan Christison. In his last fight Mir was embarrassed after coming back too soon for a very bad motorcycle accident. However, last night he looked totally out of shape, and that’s being kind. He won a decision of two guys that were gassed after 1 minute of action.

The highlight of the night in my eyes was the fight between Josh Burkman and Josh Neer. These fighters went at it for the full three rounds. It was action packed and fast paced. Burkman ended up winning a very close decision.  

The biggest news from the night was a fight that will be taking place in Novemeber possibly. Pride king Wanderlei Silva will take on UFC Light Heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell in the battle of the best in the business. As long as Liddell gets past number one contender Ronato “Babalu” Sobral next month, the fight is a go. Defeating Sobral again will be no small task for Chuck as Babalu is on top of his game winning ten fights in a row.

Overall I was entertained as I saw Ken Shamrock get beat down yet again. Josh Burkman is an up and coming superstar and he didn’t do anything to change my mind.  

The last fight of the night was supposed to be the grand finale, but it turned into a big fat dud.