Howdy from the Lone Star State with a recap of Ultimate Fight Night. To show you how organized Spike TV is, I tuned in at around 7:59 CST and Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo were on my screen!!!! At around 8:05 CST the show started with a cold open (no Roman soldier/heavy metal intro??) and Josh Koshcheck and Drew Fickett were already in the ring. This was live from the Hard Rock Café Hotel and Casino and the atmosphere felt like the TNA Asylum.

Josh Koshcheck vs. Drew Fickett

Josh got the mount and I wrote in my notes "Oh no, they're on the ground." I have nothing against ground fighting (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is my favorite fighter in the world) but Koshcheck is like Mark Coleman on the ground (in that he does nothing). Sure enough, nothing happened. Koshcheck got mount but Fickett found a way out. Koshcheck got mount again, and Fickett got out once again. Did anyone tell Fickett his role for tonight?

I missed 1:30 of Round 2 because I was watching RAW. OOPS!!! Once again Josh took Fickett to the ground and tried to punch him. Fickett then got an ankle lock but couldn't get in tight enough. This is turning out not to be an easy fight for Mr. Koshcheck.

Koshcheck took Fickett down again in Round 3 but once again the jobber was looking for some submissions. They were stood up again and Fickett nailed the Ultimate Fighter alumnus with a knee. Nothing came of it because I had written in my notes, "Koshcheck by humpfest." As soon as I wrote this, Fickett nailed Koshcheck with a standing knee and then choked him out with a sleeper!!! Horrible fight, but an awesome finish. I thought this was a bad fight to begin the show with, but Fickett added some unpredictability to it, making it ok. In the interview Joe Rogan called him "Drew 'Never Say Die' Fickett," which is a much better nickname than his original "The Master," moniker. Before the fight was over Drew was just the master of getting beat down. Also he didn't thank his sponsors so he is ok in my book.

By the way, I feel this Hard Rock location is coming off a little low rent compared to the Dallas arena where RAW is at. They then played the main intro you see on their PPV's (Gladiator putting on his armor, interviews, heavy metal etc.). OK, I guess that previous match wasn't a part of the main card or just a warm up fight to get us all bored? Who knows?

Brandon "The Truth~!" Vera vs. Fabiano Scherner

You know what? There is nothing I love more than a fight between two guys I know nothing about. Mr. Vera is the first fighter tonight to use a pro-wrestling nickname (and he won't be the last). In his interview Vera called out Chuck Liddell!!! Dude, win some fights first.

First round sucked. In the Round 2 Vera got a Muay Thai clinch and landed some knees and it looked like Scherner went down to one of them. After some ground suckage, they went back to stand up and Vera nailed the Brazilian with a huge knee to end the fight. NIGHT OF THE KNEES!!!!!

I really don't like UFC's post match interviews. I think the guys are too exhausted to give Joe Rogan a play by play of what went down in the ring. I prefer the PRIDE method of just giving the guy a mic to say goofy things or assault ring girls.

They promoted UFC 55 a little by interviewing Forrest Griffin and then went straight to UFC 56 with interviews with Rich Franklin and Nate Quarry. They proceeded to interview Stephan Bonnar and then showed a UFC 55 commercial. Actually they promoted that PPV to the point where I didn't really care. UFC 55 is the biggest NOTHING PPV in a long, long, time.
A package to hype up the next fight aired and it was really good. Both guys cut some good promos. Then another commercial!!!!!! BOOOO!!!!! At least Spike is making some money with this show.

Chris "The Crippler," Leben vs. Edwin "THE BABYFACE~!" Dewees

It looked like the Babyface didn't want to stand with The Crippler, so he got a cool Koala guard on his opponent. Leben had a good guard defense and they were stood up again. The Babyface gave The Crippler a beautiful trip back to the ground but was obviously too confident because Leben put him in an armbar from the guard to end the fight. I bet Koshcheck loved that finish.
In the post-fight interview, Leben didn't thank his sponsors (good), but said he'd fight whomever UFC put in front of him (bad).

They then interviewed Matt Hughes. He was still in heel mode. I prefer Stephan Bonnar's pre-show interview with Matt Hughes ("Matt, why are you such a jerk?"). Actually, I thought Stephan should have been the interviewer or as part of the commentary team because he is a funny cat.

Next they hyped the main event of Evan Tanner vs. David Loiseau. The French Canadian cut a very good promo and Tanner wasn't bad himself. Wow, I'm actually a little pumped about watching this fight. Commercial. After the break they interviewed the "celebrities," in attendance about who they thought would win the fight. I use the term loosely because all their "celebrities," were UFC fighters. They couldn't even get someone like Gary Coleman or David Hasselhoff to show up? Maybe the latter was on a German concert tour or something. Once again, a commercial. They were obviously trying to end the show with the main event rather than showing a bunch of fights with guys we don't know.

Evan Tanner vs. David Loiseau

Finally, the main event. . The Canadian tried some high kicks that looked lethal but Tanner defended them well. Tanner got Loiseau on the ground and even got a rear naked choke but couldn't get it in. Back to the feet and Tanner got another beautiful takedown and a rear naked choke attempt. Loiseau managed to reverse and got in some vicious elbows before the round ended.

Round 2 started the same as the first round and Tanner got Loiseau down with a flying knee. Once again, a rear naked choke attempt (I wonder what submission Mr. Tanner was practicing in preparation for the fight?) but Loiseau reversed and landed more vicious elbows, cutting open the Texan. After a doctor's check, Tanner managed to get the fight stood up but Loiseau nailed him with some mean looking strikes (they said elbows but it looked like punches to me), making the Texan a bloody mess and ending the fight. Good match. Um, Rich Franklin has a new challenger for his title if he can get through Nate Quarry.

In the post-match, Loiseau kept saying "RDP!!!!" (I have no idea what that means) and didn't thank his sponsors so he is a great man. Actually, I think UFC must have told their guys that thanking their sponsors is no-no or something, because nobody did it. Good for them!!!

This was an ok show, especially for free tv. It had some good finishes and a good main event but it was probably the wrong show to go up against RAW. I don't regret watching it but I will totally forget about it after this report.