This PPV didn't have the usual diversity of results. There were not a lot of obvious highlights, and no match that aired had knockout of submission. Whether you like this show or not will depend on what kind of fight fan you are. If you like competitive, fairly evenly matched fights then this was clearly a quality show because 4 of the 5 matches could have gone either way. If you like spectacular fights with a lot of striking or even submission attempts than this was a colossal bore. To me this show was like good Pancrase, close defensive oriented fights where both men are always capable of winning. I can see where people would be bored, and certainly it was a bad show to try to win a new audience with because they aren't going to have a ton of patience and may not be able to enjoy the schemes and subtleties of the fights because they haven't seen enough to come to understand them that well. However, when I see close matches with a high level of skill displayed and good strategy, I enjoy myself and consider it a good fight. The goal of the fighters is to win, so when they do the things that give them the best chance of doing so, I can't fault them and feel it ads to the match just like good psychology ads to a pro wrestling match. The worst thing about the show itself is that the final two matches which looked good on paper where clearly the worst and weren't exciting.

What was really bad about this show is that every match going the distance didn't simply deprive the audience of flashy, brutal, and/or spectacular finishes. It lead to the third overrun in UFC history, once again resulting in some PPV systems shutting the event off during the main event. Even though the main event was bad and boring, there's nothing worse than not getting to see the end of something you paid good money for. It will cost the company a lot of money on this show because people who complain about missing the end of the main event will be given full or partial refunds. That's a short term loss, and obviously no loss is a good one, but what's more important is this was the first taste of UFC many people have gotten in years. The fans that have been watching most of the MMA shows one way or another are the ones that are most likely to be into the competitive fights even if they aren't glamorous. The fans that came back were probably bored for three hours and then screwed by getting shut out of the even more boring conclusion, leading to them being in no hurry to ever order another UFC.

What's disappointing about the show is that it started off looking like UFC was back. They had by far the biggest crowd in company history. It may not have been the most vocal per capita, but due to the amount of people there it came off that way on TV. It felt like an event with elaborate ring intros that included pyro. The production was the best it's ever been, which was particularly shown by the quality of the replays they were able to show. When it looks like an event and feels like an event, it usually is an event and one that people will come back to. This was the promotions chance to catch fire, but with the overrun it may instead have gone up in flames. What's frustrating is that the in ring product is usually the best MMA product on the planet even though they haven't been able to afford the big names like PRIDE. While I enjoyed the show, this is not one of the UFC's where I could say everyone interested in MMA should enjoy this show. I hope that the disgruntled viewers will give UFC at least one more chance, but I'm not confident that it will happen.

Castillo wanted to take Menne down, but Menne's would guillotine him and his wrestling ability negated most of these attempts. It took Castillo more than half the fight to get his first takedown where Menne didn't wind up in the advantageous position. What usually happened is Castillo would pin Menne against the fence and waste a lot of energy trying to take him down while Menne delivered some damaging knee lifts. The knee lifts were Menne's best offense, and they made their marks around Castillo's eye. Castillo bled a good deal from one cut sustained in round 4, but it was under his left eye so it didn't hamper his performance in any way. Menne also did some ground and pound.

Round 3 was the best because they came out striking and Menne landed a nice flurry of punches. Castillo was capable of hurting Menne with a punch. He basically only uses his right hand though, while Menne can do damage with any appendage. Menne slowed Castillo up with low kicks that welted his thigh. Menne's striking defense was also better, especially after Castillo began dropping his hands due to fatigue.

One thing that hurt Menne's cause was he was docked a point for a knee to the head when his opponent was down. Technically what he did was an infraction, but I'm sure the rule wasn't created to stop a guy on his back from bringing his knee up when he had his opponent in a guillotine. Menne flurried right after this restart to make sure the round was even once the point deduction was figured in.

All the rounds were close, but Menne would win them with his strikes and he'd make Castillo burn a lot of energy. The portions that should have been boring where Menne was pinned weren't because of his knee lifts. It was probably one-sided on the scorecards, but Castillo was always only one takedown away from becoming a threat. Good, competitive match. Menne won a unanimous decision to become the new champion.

25:00

Matt Serra vs. Yves Edwards

The classic submission vs. striker match. Serra was going to do everything he could to get Edwards down and keep him there. Serra was not the standard Gracie fighter. He was really aggressive, looked to work from the top, and used his strength to aid in his submission attempts. Edwards technique on the ground was pretty rough, but he's so quick and athletic that he can usually get away with his mistakes.

Edwards is a mean striker. His best technique is grabbing his opponent's head and using knee lifts. The end of round one was great with Edwards landing a nice uppercut in addition to a few knee, but Serra trying to jump into an arm bar.

Serra became more Gracie like after feeling a few of Edwards strikes, pulling Edwards down as often as he could because that gave him the best chance to win. Serra's problem was he wasn't closing up and controlling Edwards body once he got him down, so Edwards was quickly able to stand right back up. The end of round 2 was very dramatic with Serra maneuvering into a position where he had Edwards body under control and could try to choke him out. He had a minute to lock Edwards neck and make him submit to the rear naked choke, but Edwards did a great job of defending his chin and turning into Serra's guard. I was very impressed with Serra's movement and maneuvering on the mat during this fight. It helped that Edwards wasn't the greatest defender, but on the other hand the main reason Serra could never quite lock the submission on was Edwards defense would get good once he found himself in a bad spot.

The most interesting spot saw Serra riding on Edwards back looking for the choke even after Edwards stood up. Edwards was able to get Serra down his back some and then he literally sat down on Serra. This was the best match on the show in my opinion. It was very good and exciting with a nice contrast of styles and moves you don't see all the time. This was also the closest bout on the throw with Edwards advantage being the great knees and a few uppercuts he landed, while Serra was in control a lot more and had the submission attempts. Serra won a majority decision.

15:00

UFC has a great track record when it comes to making the right decision, but this is one I don't agree with. The fight was very close, with neither man doing any damage. In those cases, you have to look at the aggressor, and for the most part that was Bustamante. Bustamante got off to a lethargic start. His shoots were too slow and Liddell "put him down" with a right. The three "knockdowns" in this fight were really just Bustamante going to the ground before Liddell could hit him again. One punch did some damage, but he was never dazed or confused. He hoped Liddell would follow him down because that's where the BJJ master's advantage lies.

The turning point of the fight as I saw it came about 3 minutes into the first round when Bustamante ducked a haymaker and took Liddell down. Although Liddell was able to get right back to his feet, the fear of Bustamante doing this again seemed to prevent him from taking any chances. Thus, for the rest of the fight he much too tentative. Liddell was mainly pawing with a lazy jab that wouldn't reach Bustamante in hopes that this would open up a big right hand. Bustamante didn't fall for this in the first round, much less after he'd seen it 50 times.

Where Liddell was successful was in keeping the fight in standup. His sprawling was excellent, and he was able to get back to his feet quickly when Bustamante did take him down. He really didn't throw any kicks though, and his whole fight was basically say connecting with a few punches per round.

Bustamante didn't have the success he'd like, but he showed a lot of diversity. He did get some takedowns and attempt some submissions. One of his most impressive moments of the fight was the adjustment he made where he quickly gave up on a shoot that was going to fail, popped up and caught Liddell with a right hand. I don't remember Bustamante being anything special in standup, but he was more than competent here. Obviously it was Liddell's game, but Bustamante connected with no fewer punches. He can't mix it up with Liddell, but he knew that and was able to pick his spots.

Bustamante seemed to be tiring first, but he became more confident as the fight progressed and was clearly the fresher of the two in round 3. The best punches came in round 3 with both men landing a few nice blows, but still no one being able to put together a combination. I enjoyed the fight because it was so competitive. Some people might be bored by it because it was more of a defensive struggle, but I'm not one to fault a guy because he avoids the punches. Neither man was taking it to their opponent, but there wasn't much in the way of downtime either. Both men knew what they wanted to do, but they had a lot of respect for their opponent, who largely prevented any success. Liddell won a unanimous decision.

15:00

UFC Lightweight Title Match: Jens Pulver vs. Dennis Hallman

The fans pretty well hated this match, booing and chanting boring as it progressed. Hallman did what he had to do to win, he just wasn't able to. Although Pulver was in Hallman's realm for the majority of the first four rounds, he was rarely at the disadvantage. Really, there wasn't much of an advantage in this fight because the defense was stellar. Hallman would hold Pulver close so he couldn't do much in the way of ground and pound. Hallman would try for an arm lock now and then, but Pulver would see it coming and be able to avoid getting caught. The best damage Pulver did on the mat was punching Hallman in the ribs several times while Hallman was going for a chickenwing armlock.

Each of the first four rounds were basically the same thing. You could say that Hallman won them because the fight was on the ground where he wanted it he occasionally tried a submission. You could say that Pulver won them because he was on top and threw a few punches. You could say that Hallman's strategy made for a really dull fight.

The fifth round was the only exciting round. Hallman was trying desperately to get Pulver down, but Pulver had clearly won the battle of stamina. Hallman looked bad more because what he was doing was unsuccessful than due to Pulver hitting him with some punches. Hallman actually tried something of a dropkick, but of course Pulver just backed up and it did nothing. Pulver made a good impression right out the end of the round, hitting his best punches of the night. Pulver won a unanimous decision.

25:00

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Match: Tito Ortiz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

The original lineup had Matyushenko vs. Kevin Randleman in a #1 contenders type of match and Ortiz vs. Victor Belfort, but Randleman & Belfort were injured so this was the logical match to make. Unfortunately, it was by far the worst match on the show because Matyushenko was not able to make me believe in him for a second. When it became obvious that Ortiz was even going to easily outwrestle him, you knew it was over. What this match showed is that wrestling under Greco-Roman or Freestyle rules and wrestling in a MMA match are two entirely different things. In pure wrestling, Matyushenko was able to beat Schultz & Kevin Jackson, guys Ortiz would not have had a chance against. Ortiz has so many other skills though and knows how to use the octagon to his advantage. It would wind up against the fence, and Ortiz would eventually wind up on top using ground and pound. Initially Matyushenko made a nice move when Tito was bending over grabbing both of Matyushenko's knees where Matyushenko overhooked him and used his weight to pull Tito down, but Tito soon maneuvered into the top position and used ground and pound to open up a cut around Matyushenko's left eye and one on his nose.

Matyushenko blatantly grabbed the fence twice in round 2 when Ortiz lifted him to avoid being thrown down, so McCarthy deducted a point. By the time Ortiz got Matyushenko down, the round was over, so basically the whole round was against the fence with little happening. Matyushenko tried to box in round 3, which allowed Ortiz to take him down almost right away and resulted in an entire round of ground and pound. Round 4 was similar except the takedown came when Ortiz did his underhook to break Matyushenko's bodylock and then tripped him up. This takedown was better because Ortiz essentially landed on Matyushenko in full mount, resulting in more effective ground and pound. Ortiz was able to throw some nice short elbows, which should do more toward opening up the cuts than punches will.

Matyushenko is an unorthodox puncher, but the striking segments were limited to the early seconds of the round. Matyushenko did more during these segments where they were standing and there was distance between them, but that's the only area you could say he won and again these were very brief. Sometimes it took longer than others, but Ortiz was always able to get Matyushenko to the ground where he could do some damage to Matyushenko's none. I'll give Matyushenko credit for going 25 minutes with Ortiz because Ortiz has been taking everyone out quickly, but at least a guy like Yuki Kondo can say he hurt Ortiz even though he lost quickly. Matyushenko was able to minimize the damage he withstood, but that was about it. A big bore.

25:00