Overall it was a very solid night of action. Only one televised bout went the distance (Liddell and Silva). Pride fighters had terrible showings. The overly hyped former Pride fighter Sokoudjou was total out-classed and dominated by Lyoto Machida. And highly touted brawler Soa Palelei looked silly against B-level heavyweight Eddie Sanchez. GSP, well he just looked awesome as he easily handled former UFC champion Matt Hughes. Complete results:

- Georges St-Pierre def. Matt Hughes by Submission (Arm Lock) at 4:54 in the 2nd round by arm bar
- Chuck Liddell def. Wanderlei Silva by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round
- Lyoto Machida def. Rameau Sokoudjou by Submission (Choke) at 4:20 in the 2nd round by arm triangle
- Rich Clementi def. Melvin Guillard by Submission (Choke) at 4:40 in the 1st round by rear naked choke
- Eddie Sanchez def. Soa Palelei by Technical Knock Out at 3:24 in the 3rd round
- James Irvin def. Luiz Cane by Disqualification at 1:51 in the 1st round
- Manny Gamburyan def. Nate Mohn by Submission (Leg Lock) at 1:31 in the 1st round by ankle lock
- Dean Lister def. Jordan Radev by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round
- Roan Carneiro def. Tony DeSouza by Technical K
- Mark Bocek def. Doug Evans by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round

By all accounts, the most exciting part of yesterday’s UFC weigh-ins involved The Iceman Chuck Liddell and The Axer Murderer Wanderlei Silva. Fellow hardcore MMA fan MC Hans was at the weigh-in and sent me an email with his report:

So Silva goes up 1st and gets into his underwear. He got the biggest pop from the crowd. There were several thousand fans and you could just tell that where were a lot of former Pride supporters. Chuck was actually booed, along with Hughes.

Anyway, Silva weighs in and then gets dressed while Chuck gets booed and weighs in. Next should come the pose down, but Chuck makes Silva wait while he puts on all of his clothes. You could just tell that Silva was pacing like a caged animal and just wanted to get the photo over with, but Chuck took his sweet time getting ready. After about a minute or two, Chuck was ready and Silva was so pissed that when they go up to each other Silva rips off his shirt. They pose and then you could tell something was being said because Dana sarted moving in closer and closer. Then all of the sudden Silva does a fake head butt and Dana jumps in between. Securtiy runs up on stage and they pull the two apart. Chuck then gives Silva the finger and that just sends Silva into a rage and it took several guys to hold him back. They were the only two guys that didn’t come down the stairs right in front of me. They made Chuck go down the stairs he came up on to keep the two away from each other.

Side note, Hughes and GSP hugged a couple of times. A little too much love going on there.

Here is a press release from Denaro Sports Marketing with the Vegas UFC after party hook-up.

Come Join UFC Superstars “The Young Assassin” Melvin Guillard and Lyoto Machida as they celebrate their victories at the Rum Jungle inside the Mandalay Bay. This will be one of the hottest events of the year and will be brought to you exclusively by Hostility Clothing. The party will be hosted by both athletes and begins directly after UFC 79 “Nemesis”. There will be plenty of girls, and celebrities to make the night unforgettable. Dress to impress as proper attire is required to get into the event. For bottle and VIP reservations please call: (702) 632-7408.

Along with beautiful UFC ring card girl Arianny Celeste, UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar, and X-Games’ BMX champion T.J. Lavin sit down together and provide their fight predictions for UFC 79 “Nemesis.” They don’t cover the entire fight card, but they do make their predictions on the three big matches of the night: Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre, and Lyoto Machida vs. Rameau Sokoudjou. Props to www.rawvegas.tv for providing yet another quality video clip. Also, is it just me or did Arianny get a boob job?

So I was going to take time and put my self-proclaimed expertise to use and provide a comprehensive preview of UFC 79 Nemesis. But alas, the holidays are upon us and my time and energies have turned to nil. But fear not, I came across an analysis for UFC 79 written by a Seattle blogger (Tom Kim). Although I don’t agree with all of his thoughts, it’s decent little piece and will give you a nice preview of The Ultimate Fighting Champion’s final event of the year. So here it is, Tom’s take on UFC 79 Nemesis.

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre
This is the fight that I’m most interested in. GSP is my favorite fighter and the one guy I try (and fail miserably) to emulate when I train. Hughes of course is no slouch. The former long reigning welterweight champion has already fought and beat some of the best fighters in the history of MMA including BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Royce Gracie, and GSP. Of course GSP is also the last guy to beat Hughes so this match-up will finally determine once and for all, who really is the best. It’s no surprise that I’m picking St. Pierre to win the rubber match. In my unbiased (yeah right) opinion, “Rush” is better in every aspect of MMA. His striking is light years better than Matt’s, his submission game has always been solid, and he showed just how great of a wrestler he is, in his last fight against Josh Koscheck.

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
Ah yes, the battle that fight fans have been waiting more than 4 years for. The long-time UFC coverboy takes on the former PRIDE champion. While both Liddell and Silva have fallen on hard times recently (both are coming off two straight losses), this is still a very important and interesting fight. While they’ve never fought each other, both do share some common foes in Tito Ortiz (beat Silva/lost to Liddell twice), Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (beat Liddell/lost to Silva twice), and Vitor Belfort (beat Silva/lost to Liddell). While I love Silva’s aggressiveness, I think Liddell’s experience in the cage and ability to counter-strike will lead to a win for “The Iceman.”

Lyoto Machida vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
This light-heavyweight battle may not be as hyped as the co-main events, but it may be just as good. Machida is undefeated, and owns wins over UFC stars BJ Penn and Rich Franklin. Sok (YOU try spelling his name over and over again!) is fresh off two devastating knockouts of former PRIDE stalwarts Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Noguiera. Both fighters have a lot at stake in this bout. Machida needs an impressive win to get the hype machine rolling and Sok needs a win to prove his last two wins weren’t a fluke. Like a lot of fans, I am intrigued by Sok’s explosiveness and vicious power, but I think Machida’s precise striking and ability to stay away from danger, will be enough for him to win.

Soa Palelei vs. Eddie Sanchez
While I consider myself a hardcore MMA fan, I don’t really know anything about these two heavyweights. I do know that Palelei has a lot of international experience (including a bout w/PRIDE), and Sanchez is probably most famous for being led to slaughter against Mirko Cro Cop. Since that’s all I know, I’m going to go with the most scientific way to predict a winner: Who has the better nickname? While Soa “The Hulk” Palelei has a nice ring to it, I’m picking Eddie “The Manic Hispanic” Sanchez. A nickname that includes your ethnicity and a generic descriptor is usually a good sign.

Rich Clementi vs. Melvin Guillard
This battle of lightweights could be better than most people expect. Both have stated how much they personally hate each other (Guillard allegedly once pulled a gun on Clementi) and each have flashed the ability to become a top contender. Unfortunately, both have also shown the ability to come up lame in big fights. Clementi comes into this fight fresh off an impressive win over Anthony Johnson. “The Young Assassin” Guillard is coming off a cocaine suspension and a loss to Joe Stevenson. While Clementi is a well rounded fighter who can exploit Guillard’s submission defense weakness, I predict Guillard will keep the fight standing and win via knockout.

It’s actually not as far-fetched as it my sound. Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser and best friend, told ESPN.com Friday night that the five-division world champion, who generated 3.25 million pay-per-view buys and more than $200 million in revenue in two mega fights in 2007, came away from a Thursday meeting with Cuban giving serious thought to taking his game and considerable drawing power to MMA.

“It’s definitely something he is interested in, and when Floyd makes his move, obviously it’s going to be a mega event,” Ellerbe said. “We don’t have a timetable. Floyd is taking some time off, but Floyd understands what is involved. You have to take time to go out and understand what you’re getting involved in, and he’s ready to do that. But it’s something he’s definitely interested in doing.

“Mark Cuban is a very successful business man and has some very, very successful business ventures that we’ve discussed. We’re looking to do a lot of business with Mark. He’s a great guy, and we had a great meeting. Doing an MMA event with him is most definitely something we are looking at, among many things we are looking at doing with Mark Cuban.”

Mayweather’s interest in participating in an MMA event was sparked after he struck up a friendship with Cuban during their participation this season as contestants on the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Floyd is considering fighting with HDNet Fights,” Cuban told ESPN.com. (more…)