Another great UFC show is in the books. In all honesty, I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the last two, but it was still well worth the $44.95 price tag.

Main Event for the Undisputed Middleweight Title: Anderson Silva d. Dan Henderson via rear naked choke submission  (4:52, Round 2)

I was hyped up for this fight, and it delivered. I came in figuring that Dan Henderson had no chance, despite his stellar record. I mean, come on, it’s Spider Silva–he looks unbeatable. Henderson changed my mind, though, controlling Silva on the ground for the last part of the first round. I settled in at that point, thinking we might actually see a Silva fight go the distance.  Boy, was I wrong.

In round 2, Silva eventually had his way, landing several wicked shots and gaining the advantage on the ground. He eventually rolled Henderson into the rear naked choke and got him to submit. If Henderson could have held out for eight more seconds, the fight might have turned out differently, but Silva had him dead to rights. In fact, if you want to see what pain looks like, just check out Henderson’s face when Silva has the choke locked in–he was so close to passing out he could barely tap.

Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg both posed a great question after the fight: who even wants to fight this guy at this point? I liked Joe’s analogy of Spider Silva being like Roy Jones in his prime. Jones was a guy who was so unbeatable, you weren’t wondering if he would lose a fight–you were wondering if anyone would step up.

Since this is the UFC, you know somebody will step up, but it’s going to be a serious shocker when someone finally takes the belt off Silva. I’d like to see Henderson get another crack at it, but the middleweight division is so stacked, it’s going to be a while.

I do feel bad for Henderson–he’s come in and already lost two belts in two weight classes. He’s 37 years old, and I don’t know how much longer he’ll fight, but he definately deserves another shot at the title down the line.

Heavyweight Bout: Heath Herring d. Cheick Kongo via Split Decision (All three judges scored the bout 29-28)

This was a good three-round fight. Based on the post-fight interview, Herring evidently came in to the match expecting a stand-up affair. After all, Kongo just beat Cro Crop with the stand-up game. It wasn’t to be, though–apparently Kongo’s been working on his ground game, so we saw a lot of that in this fight.

Kongo actually dominated early on, but Herring turned it on in the second round and totally dominated Kongo in the third. Herring continually landed strong knees to Kongo’s ribs, and as Mike Goldberg pointed out, his ribs are going to be sore in the morning.

I had a bad feeling that my hometown boy would get screwed by the judges in this one, especially considering Kongo is on the rise. Thankfully, two of the judges made the right call, and the Texas Crazy Horse won the split decision.

Middleweight Bout: Chris Leben d. Alessio Sakara via TKO (Punches at 3:16, Round 1)  

This was a short fight, but a fun one. Chris Leben is always an aggressive fighter, and it paid off for him here, as he finished off Sakara with strikes. Sakara seemed to be upset that the fight was stopped, but he was done. Leben looked impressive, but I don’t think he’d stand a chance if he got a rematch with Anderson Silva. Then again, who would right now?

I would probably give this one “Fight of the Night” just based on the pace the two guys set.

Middleweight Bout: Yushin Okami d. Evan Tanner via Knockout (Knee at 3:00 of Round 2)

I was really rooting for Evan Tanner in this one, especially after all that’s been said about what he’s gone through. As a sidenote, if you haven’t checked out his journal, I highly recommend it. Hell, even Joe Rogan plugged it tonight!

Back to the fight, though–it was Tanner’s first fight back in nearly two years, and it appeared that he was rusty. Several times during the fight he looked upset that Okami caught him with punches. Okami hadn’t knocked anyone out for a couple of years, but was able to catch Tanner with a Muy Thai knee and end the fight in round 2. Tanner has three more fights on his contract with the UFC, and I’m sure he’ll be much improved in his next outing.

Welterweight Bout: Jon Fitch d. Chris Wilson via Unanimous Decision 

I thought the opening bout was a bit of a snoozer. Joe Rogan kept talking about how Fitch grinds out his matches, and that’s definately what we got here. I don’t know if this match was enough to catapult Fitch to number one contender status, especially considering Wilson had him cinched in a deep triangle choke as the last round ended. To me, it looked like Wilson may have been saved by the bell on that one.

Overall, another great UFC event. I was actually 4-1 on my picks from the podcast. The only fight I missed was Tanner losing to Okami, and the “Texas Crazy Horse Heath Herring” came through with the upset for me. I knew I should have put some money down on that one.