Shinya Aoki has only lost three times in his professional MMA career that has spanned 23 fights and six years. His most recent loss came from Joachim Hansen at DREAM 5 back in July of last year, but before that bout, he hadn't lost since August 20th, 2005 to another prominent name in the Japanese MMA scene, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Aoki will now have a chance to redeem that loss at DREAM.8 on April 5th from Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

MMAWeekly is confirming that Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai is now set to take place in the opening round of the DREAM.8 Welterweight Grand Prix. Normally, we would see DREAM try to set Sakurai and Aoki on opposite sides of the bracket in order to run through the Grand Prix and meet in the final, but FEG likely wants some star power to pull ratings after a less than stellar DREAM.7 Featherweight Grand Prix.

Stylistically, Aoki will have a superior advantage on the ground whereas Sakurai should have the striker's advantage on the feet. Sakurai has some good technical strikes, but Aoki seems to be one of the most elusive fighters to hit these days. He has very effective takedowns, and he transitions very well from the takedown to the submission. This should be a great matchup for hardcore fans looking to see Aoki put to the test.

DREAM should be hopefully putting together a few more quality bouts on this card. Aoki vs. Sakurai should generally draw more interest that some of the past events as both fighters have a following in Japan, but the card still lacks any other locked-in matchups. Hopefully that will be changing very soon.

According to FreeFightVideos, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic has re-signed with Fight Entertainment Group's DREAM MMA promotion for a three-fight deal. The story has been confirmed by Croation Sports Website Sportal.

The article goes on to mentioned that CroCop's first bout of his new contract could take place in July in a K-1 Rules matchup against Alistair Overeem. The matchup has quickly climbed the list of potential fights that fans have been pushing to see every since the No Contest bout at DREAM 6 back in September of 2008, and the subsequent war of words between the two men that led to CroCop offering to have Overeem fly to his Croation training facility to fight in his basement.

Interestingly enough, a couple of other rumors came out of the article:

The Japanese promotion Dream where quick to react after it was revealed that Cro Cop was close to signing a deal with the UFC. Dream has offered Cro Cop three fights, two under mixed martial arts rules. One of those could be a December bout with Fedor Emelianenko. Since his 2005 loss to Fedor, Cro Cop has had a strong desire to rematch the worlds best MMA heavyweight.

There have been rumors flying around the MMA blogosphere of a potential DREAM  Heavyweight Grand Prix that could see names like Overeem, Kharitonov, CroCop, Fedor, Mark Hunt, and some other fighters in the mix, but there was also the prospect of an Open Weight Grand Prix in the rumor mill as well.

To be perfectly honest, I would have rather seen CroCop make his way back into the UFC. His style is much better suited for the ring, in my opinion, so I'm not entirely against his reluctance to step back into the cage. The only real problem I see for CroCop is that he really has diminished in skill in the last year or two.

Overeem isn't exactly an easy fight for anyone since his massive muscle build, and taking on Fedor again is likely going to result in a beating like he withstood before. Good decision or bad decision? You be the judge.

Bonnar's status as being one of the pioneer fighters that brought the UFC to where it is today with his fantastic slugfest bout with Forrest Griffin in the inaugural season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and the legendary status of Mark Coleman as a pioneer in the sport, the art of ground and pound, and the first UFC heavyweight champion definitely adds a historical feel to this bout.

Stylistically, Bonnar should have an advantage over a much older Mark Coleman, but if Coleman can put together a better training camp to improve his conditioning. this may be a tough fight to call. Generally, Bonnar should have better standup and submission abilities on the floor, but can he stop Coleman's top control? I'm more inclined to believe Bonnar will edge Coleman in this fight.

Tibau vs. Stephens offers some interesting analysis. Stephens was easily dominated by Joe Lauzon in his last bout when the fight went to the ground, yet Stephens did have some improved defense against Lauzon's offensive grappling. Tibau's gameplan will likely fall along the same lines as Lauzon's, take down Stephens and submit him. I can't see any case in which I'd push for Stephens here other than a huge knockout, which isn't entirely out of the question. Tibau should have the superior ground game, and he should be able to end this via submission.

Dennis Siver will see action at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany as he takes on Bangor, Maine native Dale Hartt in a showdown between heavy-handed strikers. Siver will be representing the German talent on this card, so it should be a fantastic homecoming for Siver to perform in front of countrymen. This should make for an explosive matchup as both guys are very standup oriented, so this could end either way.

Tim Credeur and Nick Catone have been added to the UFN 18 card set for April 1, 2009. Credeur is a TUF Alum with some solid submission skills and only two losses in his career coming from Chael Sonnen and Joey Villasenor. Catone will be coming in for his second UFC bout. He's a Ring of Combat veteran with his debut win in the UFC coming against Derek Downey at UFN 17. Both Credeur and Catone have decent ground games, but I'd give Credeur the nod skillwise.

Eliot Marshall will take on Neil Grove beater Mike Ciesnolevicz at UFC 97 on April 18th in a preliminary bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Mike Ciesnolevicz is coming off a leglock win over Neil Grove while Eliot Marshall won his debut bout in the UFC against Jules Bruchez after losing in the semifinals on Season 8 of TUF. This one should be interesting considering Marshall has some great wrestling ability, and Mike Ciesnolevicz will be fighting at a weight class he likely won't be able to maintain a gas tank at.

Kevin Randleman has returned! Randleman has officially signed with Strikeforce, and he's set to return to the cage. All you closet Randleman fans should be excited at the prospect of seeing some overpowering takedowns.

• DREAM.7's ratings really weren't that bad according to an article by smoogy over on BloodyElbow.com. The combination of a poor time slot, non-holiday weekend, poor quality fights, non-drawing names, but.. mostly a terrible time slot pushed the lowly 2.4% rating for DREAM.7.
  
  Further into the article, it's revealed that a 2.4 rating for the timeslot is actually fairly satisfactory considering it was such a late night slot. It just goes to show that much of the MMA blogosphere jumped the gun on this one.
  
• Interestingly enough, our prediction came true. The UFC will, in fact, counterprogram Strikeforce. SpikeTV will air a full day worth of UFC Primetime, TUF reruns, UFC Unleashed, and all of this culminating into a final shot at Strikeforce with the airing of UFC 94. Did you really think the UFC would leave Strikeforce alone? Give me a break.
  
• Yoshihiro Akiyama is currently in talks to take on Alan Belcher at UFC 100 according to MMAJunkie.com sources and this 5OuncesOfPain.com article. This makes perfect sense considering it will be an overseas bout in which Akiyama can draw some fans to the event. It looks like the UFC is trying to make Belcher the "Japanese-import" Killer.
  
• Paulo Filho won't be signing with Bellator due to some contractual issues. Filho's manager, Guimaraes, stated in the article that Bellator was unwilling to add a clause that stated the contract would lose validity if Filho was on the shelf for more than four months. Filho doesn't seem like the type of fighter who wants to fight that much, but I can see his point of not being benched for a long time. Money is an issue.
  

I'm sure there was some more important news in the community, but I really didn't care to mention it. Did you hear Siver vs. Hartt got booked for UFC 99? Yeah, nobody cares.

Machida's dominating wins over all of his opponents (He hasn't lost a round) are only the tip of the iceberg. After Saturday night's main event bout between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Keith Jardine, an Evans vs. Jackson title fight was all but written down for UFC 98 after Frank Mir sustained a knee injury that will see his bout with Brock Lesnar pushed back a month. Today, there are confirming reports stating that Jackson does, in fact, need surgery to repair torn ligaments in his jaw, and he needs time to heal an elbow injury.

What exactly does that mean? Obviously, Jackson cannot take on Evans, so the UFC has finally given Lyoto Machida his shot at the title, a very lucky chance for Machida to finally gain the respect he deserves at the top of the division.

For years, many hardcore fans have been pushing for the quality of fights. I can't tell you how many interviews and articles I've read over the years of people complaining about how MMA must evolve to a point where only the best are taking on the best. This is quite possibly a fight that we wouldn't be seeing if Mir vs. Lesnar was called off and Jackson was able to actually fight Evans. Why? Because the consensus belief is that Machida is a boring fighter who just can't produce the hype and excitement that much of the casual fanbase wants to see.

The problem for most hardcore fans is the unappreciation of the hype machine that is the UFC. While many of the overly hyped bouts that we see on UFC telecasts don't exactly bring quality to the cage, they do bring viewers. Those viewers, in turn, make the UFC a massive success.

But for now, we are getting a matchup that isn't exactly beneficial to the UFC. Evans has become a champion who has the ability to end fights in exciting fashion, but Machida has the ability to make fights seem methodically boring to the average fan. His elusiveness, quickness, and overall intelligent fighting style allow for him to win fights decisively.

The UFC will likely be hoping for an Evans' victory. This will ensure the Jackson vs. Evans matchup that so many fans have been looking forward to, and I agree that it would be a quality matchup. If Machida defeats Evans, Jackson will likely be in line in the fall for a title shot. If Machida wins once again, it'll not only prove that Machida is the best Light Heavyweight in the world, but he will be the epitome of the perfect fighter if he can do so in same fashion as he has against the other talent within the division.

I'm convinced that Lyoto Machida will be the champion, and I'm also convinced he'll reign on top of the division for quite some time. It'll be nice to see a truly skilled fighter who really hasn't been a part of the UFC's marketing plans for once at the top of the heap. Of course, it'll also be interesting to see what Rashad Evans brings to the table against Machida. It should be a great bout.

"I'm worried about Pete Sell. I sent him to the hospital to get an MRI.... As you've heard me so many times -- especially in the last few weeks -- and wait until The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) comes out to talk to me about judging and officiating in this sport right now. It drives me crazy because it's such a personal thing. These guys train so hard and those two kids [Aaron Riley and Shane Nelson] have been in camp for six to eight weeks, training, and then they fly out here to fight and it gets stopped like that. People make mistakes all the time, but that was a bad one. I was unhappy with the Pete Sell fight tonight, too. Yves LaVigne is actually usually a very good referee. I'm serious -- I'm not even kidding -- I hurt my arm tonight banging on the Octagon for him to stop that fight. I've never done that in eight years. I don't even know what to say. It drives me crazy."

The controversial stoppage to the Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson bout can be seen in this week's latest UFC 96 Dana White Video Blog. In the blog and from what I've read from the play-by-play's, the referee stopped the fight after Riley was put down from a solid punch by Nelson, but was visibly on his back defending strikes from Nelson and was fully in control of all his actions. It looked like a standard exchange between a guy in guard and a guy looking to stay out of guard and pound his way to victory. The fight was suddenly stopped.

In the Pete Sell vs. Matt Brown matchup, Sell was nearly knocked out from a Brown punch. Yves Lavigne rushed in to stop the fight, actually put his hands on Brown, pushed him away, then as Brown walked away in celebration, told Brown and Sell to restart. This was a very odd scene, and it produced a lot of "What the heck just happened?" moments from fans, including myself. Sell was visibly stunned, and Brown subsequently punished Sell to the point in which everyone watching was outraged by the continuance of the fight.

UFC 95 also had its share of controversy with many, including myself, believing Josh Koscheck wasn't given a chance and the fight was stopped way too quickly. All of these debatable stoppages bring us back to the central issue, is there a need for some sort of organizational body to manage, train, and create a critera for referees?

I think the last few events certainly raise the issue. Yves Lavigne's mistake in the Sell-Brown fight was likely caused by the fact that another referee quickly stopped a fight earlier in th evening. Lavigne likely didn't want to make similar mistakes, but Lavigne would have been fully justified in stopping the fight when Sell first went down, although Sell did move to defend. It would have been perfectly fine for Lavigne to stop the fight when Sell was obviously barely able to stand against the fence. It shouldn't have went for as long as it had, but the recent screwups in the Octagon as of late are probably one of the reasons why Lavigne waited to stop this bout.

The Riley-Nelson situation was that of an inexperienced referee in my mind. When the focus is on fighter safety and only fighter safety, veteran battlers like Aaron Riley who are familiar with being on the ropes of defeat, but are able to fully defend themselves get the short end of the stick. The replay shown in White's video blog is confusing to any fan.

What needs to happen in order for this to end? I've thrown the suggestion out that the UFC should try to get behind some type of organizational body that trains MMA referees, teaches specific criteria that referees need to follow, and is headed by one of the best referees in the business in John McCarthy. If the UFC backs the organization, it should filter throughout the commissions and through the regional promotions as well. It could have some sort of regional experience program, allowing referees to go through trials and tribulations in lower promotions and building their way up to higher level organizations through a track record of some kind. There should be some sort of review board much like what NFL and MLB officials have to go through.

Kid Nate believes John McCarthy should also be reinstated back into the UFC, and I believe this would be a brilliant idea for bigger marquee matchups. We haven't had any huge bouts completely screwed by poor refereeing lately, but it's bound to happen if this continues.

I'm more inclined to push McCarthy into a role to create the future of MMA referees with his common sense in the cage. I think that would be a much more effective way to bring new referees into the same mindset that McCarthy has had over the years. It should provide us with an ample amount of referees that won't foul things up so horribly like that of what happened in Riley vs. Nelson.

DREAM 7 wasn't exactly the epitome of an entertaining Japanese card that would attract casual fans, but it did produce some interesting matchups in the Featherweight Grand Prix. The ratings, according to Japan-MMA.com, were a miserable
2.4% with Aoki vs. Gardner pushing a 4%, which is apparently not good at all. Lacking some star power in "Kid' Yamamoto probably hurt the television ratings, so I expect some better rating in the next FW GP round.

Overall, DREAM 7 did produce some interesting style matchups that were fairly even and pretty tough to pick. Most casual fans love a one-sided crushing, but these even matchups were exactly what I liked about the matchmaking at this event. It probably wasn't the best thing in order to produce ratings though. Let's take a look at what happened at DREAM 7.

Masakazu Imanari def. Atsushi Yamamoto, Split Decision: This was a tough matchup for both fighters. Atsushi isn't exactly the easiest guy to submit, and he's trained by fellow Featherweight "Kid" Yamamoto. Imanari doesn't have the powerful standup to press Yamamoto, but his grappling is superior to the point where it becomes a huge danger for Yamamoto to get into Imanari's guard. There in lies the chess match.

Imanari controlled much of the matchup as he was able to get Yamamoto in his guard and go on the offensive with submission attempts. Atsushi was able to avoid those attempts, but it didn't give him much room to push any offense of his own. His shortness in height and reach didn't allow him to stay out of guard and punish Imanari much like Mishima has done in the past, and this fight went as expected. Imanari edged out Atsushi in the end, although I felt like it should have been unanimous.

Hiroyuki Takaya def. Jong Won Kim via TKO (strikes): A lot of fans were looking forward to seeing if Jong Won Kim could make the transition to MMA from his judo roots, and for the most part, he was doing a great job against Takaya. But with a man like Takaya, the knockout punch is always looming in the shadows.

Kim was able to control Takaya for the most part, but as the second round began and the fighters were seperated from the usual hugging on the ropes, Takaya landed a solid right that dropped Kim. This was the exact complication with picking Kim, especially in his first MMA bout.

Kim has some potential, but without a developed striking game, he isn't going to get far in the Featherweight division that is stacked with some very well-rounded fighters. Dong Sik Yoon has some work to do with Kim, but he could become very dangerous if he develops a base standup game with some transitioning submissions on the floor. Not all hope is lost for Kim with this loss.

Yoshiro Maeda def. Micah Miller, unanimous decision: Maeda was simply the more punishing fighter here. Miller didn't use his reach very effectively in this fight, and it was much more of a problem with Miller not throwing punches with his reach. Maeda brought a more aggressive standup game.

When the action hit the floor, Miller did manage to have a good rubber guard to stop Maeda from posturing up, but Maeda was still able to move up and land some solid shots. Overall, a decent win for Maeda considering he was at a huge reach disadvantage in this bout.

Abel Cullum def. Akiyo Nishiura, unanimous decision: Cullum was more aggressive, landed much cleaner shots, and was working over Akiyo for much of the matchup. It looked to be much closer than originally thought when the decision came down, but I believe the judges got this one right.

Akiyo wasn't able to effectively use his elusiveness to avoid shots, and the fact that Akiyo generally leaves his hands down was one of the deciding factors. Cullum was quick enough to capitalize on that weakness, and he landed some solid blows in the standup game because of it. Akiyo needs to learn the basics.

Joe Warren def. Chase Beebe via TKO (cut): Joe Warren was impressive. His solid wrestling base was soul crushing to Beebe's effectiveness in working whatever gameplan he has brought to this fight. It was evident that Warren had actually been able to transition his outstanding wrestling to the MMA game along with taking some decent shots from Beebe.

Warren wasn't entirely one-dimensional either. He landed a flush knee late in the round that opened a massive cut on Beebe's head. It resulted in having the fight stopped, although a lot of fans believed Beebe simply quit on the stool. A huge upset win for Joe Warren.

Bibiano Fernandes def. Takafumi Otsuka, unanimous decision: Bibiano worked some technical boxing in this fight that punished Takafumi from the beginning of this bout, but he was also very able on the floor and caused Takafumi to be on the defense for the most part on the ground. Overall, Bibiano was much better in making Takafumi ineffective for much of this fight. Very solid win by Bibiano, and it goes to show that he is improving his overall MMA skillset.

Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Ross Ebanez via submission (rear naked choke): Kawajiri obviously had better striking, better wrestling, and was just overwhelming in this matchup. That's his gameplan in every fight, and he didn't try to brawl with Ebanez too much in this one. He was much more inclined to work the gameplan that put the moniker "The Crusher" with his name.

Kawajiri was able to work his way to Ebanez's back fairly quickly in this fight, and Ebanez was on the defense for the rest of the matchup once that happened. As in most fights, Ebanez finally succumbed to repeated attempts by Kawajiri to sink the rear naked choke.

It wasn't a rank changing win by any means, but it keeps Kawajiri active in the division. Ebanez wasn't a terrible opponent, but he wasn't as competitive as some fans thought he would be.

Shinya Aoki def. David Gardner via submission (rear naked choke): This was a rather pitiful matchup for David Gardner. Gardner spent nearly the entire fight defending submissions from the back as Aoki was traveling via backpack on Gardner for much of the fight. This was to be expected, but Gardner made the fatal mistake of waving at the crowd in multiple instances as if Aoki wasn't a problem.

Aoki was a problem. At one moment during the bout, Gardner waves once again, said "Hello Japan", and was subsequently choked out by Aoki as he raised his chin to yell his famous last words. Horrible decision by Gardner, and this has to be absolutely embarrassing.

Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Daisuke Nakamura, unanimous decision: This was one of the more enjoyable matchups of the evening. It pitted a very tough Mitsuhiro Ishida against a dynamic grappler in Daisuke Nakamura. Nakamura spent a lot of time on his back trying to grab at Ishida, but Ishida proved that he is still one of the toughest guys in the fight game to submit. His quickness, ability to move quickly in and out of danger, and powerful physique all combined to keep him out of harms way and punish Nakamura.

Nakamura has some chances, but Ishida was just too strong, too well-conditioned, and too much. Solid win for Ishida against a rising star in Daisuke Nakamura.

Betting Review: We won huge at this event, and it was very unexpected. A small parlay on Warren, Bibiano, and Imanari with some added single bets on Ishida, Warren, Bibiano, and Imanari paid out big on this card. It makes up quite nicely for my UFC 96 losses.

Overall: C, It wasn't the most exciting night of fights, and a casual fan would have likely fallen asleep at 3 AM trying to watch some of these bouts. You've really got to have an eye for appreciating some of the great ground games that many of these fighters in the GP have at their disposal.

The theatrics weren't anything to write home about, but the entrances were a nice escape from the typical UFC boxer-like entrances. I say this almost everytime I see a Japanese card though, likely because there are many more UFC events going on than Japanese events.

Overall, decent card, but I was left wanting more. Hopefully DREAM can put on some better shows than this one in the future.

UFC 96 wasn't the most prestigious event on paper leading into Saturday evening in Columbus, Ohio, but it did manage to produce some exciting bouts. We now have a clearer picture of the Heavyweight division's upper-echelon talent, as well as what the potential is for the Light Heavyweight division title. Let's take a look at Saturday's action and what to expect in the future from the outcomes.

"Rampage" Jackson vs. Keith Jardine: Definitely a great scrap by both fighters. I scored this matchup 29-28 Jackson, but could definitely see a 30-27 score for Jackson as well. I wasn't sure what all the hoopla was about the judge telling Jardine that he lost the fight in the last 10 seconds as I thought it was evident that Jackson won the bout, but it doesn't really matter at this point.

Jackson made Jardine pay when he threw leg kicks, and the gameplan of using his range wasn't very effective considering Jackson would move to strike when Jardine planted his feet to strike from distance. For most of the fight, Jackson was the aggressor, and Jardine tried to use his awkward style to counter.

The big problem is that Jackson's power and technique in the standup were just too much in implementing that gameplan. You could hear Greg Jackson's team telling Jardine to take Rampage down when things were getting a bit overwhelming for Jardine, and that was just a horrible gameplan to try to implement. Jackson would easily crush Jardine when he tried to move in, and Jardine doesn't offer much on the ground.

Solid bout for Jackson, and it now looks like Evans may be his next opponent at UFC 98. Dana White's VLog caught the discussion backstage regarding the matchup, and Quinton will have to get medicals done first to determine if he needs a medical suspension or not. If not, Rampage could take on Evans at UFC 98, otherwise we'll see Machida in his spot.

Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: The action is this fight went somewhat the way I imagined it may go, although Gonzaga had a great shot at ending this early. Gonzaga caught Carwin with some stiff striking early, but the big man recovered well, was able to get off his back fairly easily, and put a nice short jab on Gonzaga's chin that floored him instantly.

I think the main issue to come out of this fight is that Shane Carwin's power may be a huge danger to anyone in the division. While he isn't technically sound, neither is Brock Lesnar. Both guys have unbelievable power, and they can both knock opponents out with one well-placed blow. Carwin actually seems to have a bit more of a technical base that Lesnar, so that matchup may be a very interesting fight in the future.

Gonzaga has been a product of the hype machine ever since his knockout win over Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic. Do I think he's as good as he has been made out to be? Not exactly, but we can't really say that Gonzaga is past his prime or "done" in the division. Carwin may very well be a great rising star, and the power that Carwin has with some a small jab could end up creating some massive upsets in the division.

Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell: Brown completely crushed Pete Sell with very good, accurate striking from the beginning. Sell, who hasn't been the most technical striker, was just overwhelmed with shots by Brown, and Brown's range was excellent in this fight to work those strikes. Sell really had no way to counter as he tried to stalk Brown into the fence. Brown would circle, use good footwork, and counter with more kicks and punches. Impressive performance by Matt Brown.

Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz: Having had a lot of discussions about this matchup over the last week, I ended up switching back to picking Matt Hamill in this matchup. It really revolved around the fact that wrestling credentials in MMA don't hold much water when you're taking on a fellow wrestler. Unless you're a very quick shoot wrestler, the takedown defense that most wrestlers have against their counterparts is usually enough to make these types of bouts slugfests. That's exactly what Hamill brought to the bout.

As expected, Hamill's takedown defense was enough to allow him to punish Munoz with his slightly better striking game. Hamill has improved in that department, but in small strides. He still leans with his strikes, isn't very technical with his jabs, but he is effective in using his dirty boxing style to inflict damage.

The knockout of the night by Hamill was impressive though. Munoz likely had no idea that Hamill would throw any type of headkick, and Hamill used it perfectly. Having never previously seen Hamill throw such a tremendous kick to the head was likely the reason Munoz never saw it coming. Impressive victory by Hamill.

Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller: Maynard was the absolute epitome of sprawl and brawl in this fight. His power coupled with the fact that he could easily sprawl Miller's takedown attempts was overwhelming. Every time Miller tried to takedown Maynard, he was met with a sprawl and the ensuing punishment from Maynard.

One of the things I mentioned to many of my friends during this fight is that Maynard is becoming somewhat of a Dan Henderson in the division. He loads up his right hand, uses his wrestling to sprawl opponents, and then tries to unload that right hand on opponents. That's exactly what he worked in this fight, and it was very effective.

Miller needs to improve his boxing in order to compete with guys like Maynard, so that should be one of his focus points for future matchups. Maynard should begin pushing into the upper echelon of talent in the division with this win, and hopefully he'll continue to improve. I'm still curious as to how he'll do if he ends up on his back, but as for now, he looks to be doing very well.

Tamdan McCrory defeated Ryan Madigan, TKO, Round 1: McCrory's standup was effective enough to get him to the clinch, and that's where Madigan couldn't produce the power strikes that he's known for implementing. McCrory easily got the takedown and controlled Madigan on the floor. Easy win for the "Barncat".

Kendall Grove defeated Jason Day, TKO, Round 1: I really thought Day had a chance in this fight, but Kendall looked to be in very good shape, and his striking has improved. It'll be interesting to see how well he has improved his game in his next few fights.

Jason Brilz defeated Tim Boetsch, unanimous decision: This was a bout that I mentioned could have potential for an upset in the Betting Preview over the weekend, and it ended up actually happening. Boetsch was unable to put huge strikes on Brilz, but he did manage to wobble him a bit in the first round.

Brilz stayed vigilant though, and he was able to work a ground and pound takedown game that has brought him success throughout his career. Solid upset win for Brilz, but I don't know if he has the chops to be a staple in the division.

Brandon Vera defeated Mike Patt, TKO, Round 2: Vera looked much more energetic in this bout, and he has likely been able to get used to the weight cut. He was quick, brutalizing with his leg kicks, and just overall much more "alive". Patt isn't exactly a prime candidate for being a danger to Vera, but it was a nice to see Vera get a win under his belt and show the fans he's not done.

Shane Nelson defeated Aaron Riley, TKO, Round 1: After seeing the replay in Dana White's VLOG, I will have to say that Riley was completely robbed in this matchup, Riley was basically on the floor moving to avoid shots when the referee stopped the fight for some odd reason. It was very unprofessional, and I can't really comment on the actual bout due to the outcome being tarnished. White has a point in arguing that this referee is incompetent.

Betting Review: This was a very tough night of betting, and I was able to stay far away from this card in terms of dumping massive cash on it. I made a few bets, notably on Carwin, Miller, and Hamill. I made single bets on those bouts, but I also parlayed the three with Miller losing me the parlay. Overall, I lost out on about $5, but didn't bet a whole lot either. This definitely wasn't a card to make a lot of money on, but it was possible with the right parlays.

Overall Grade: B-

It was a decent event, produced some highlight reel finishes, but the star power and overall matchups weren't that compelling. It does clear up the divisional pictures a bit, but the Light Heavyweight division is still in limbo until Rampage's medicals come through. I'm assuming we'll see Rampage-Evans at UFC 98 though.

With Mir getting hurt, will Carwin's stake in the division rise to the point in which he'll get a title shot at Lesnar? I wouldn't be surprised, but Mir says he only needs another month after rehabbing his knee. That bout should be pushed back to July, Couture vs. Nogueira will be in the mix, and then we'll see who Carwin takes on. Of course, the rumor mill looms with a potential signing of Fedor later in the year as well. It's getting very interesting.

1. B.J. Penn
2. Kenny Florian
3. Sean Sherk 
4. Gray Maynard
5. Frankie Edgar
6. Tyson Griffin
7. Josh Thomson
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Shinya Aoki
10.Clay Guida

1. B.J. Penn
2. Shinya Aoki
3. Kenny Florian
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Joachim Hansen
6. Sean Sherk
7. Gesias Cavalcante
8. Josh Thomson
9. Satoru Kitaoka
10. Tatsuya Kawajiri