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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S UFC 81 PPV BLOG
LIVE ON PPV

-I'll be checking in throughout the night with updates on the UFC81 event which includes Brock Lesnar's UFC debut.

-For a detailed blow-by-blow and expert analysis of the fight, please visit our sister website, MMATorch.com, to read MMA columnist Shawn Ennis's report. He is updated live throughout the show also.

-As usual, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handled the announcing. They noted that Brock Lesnar is the first heavyweight fighter to require XXXL gloves instead of XXL gloves.

-From a credibility standpoint, they really should acknowledge to their PPV-only viewers the situation with Randy Couture. When they don't do that, they drive their PPV viewers to places they don't want them to go - independent MMA sites that don't tow the company line on these matters. How hard would it be for Rogan or Goldberg to say, "Due to a disheartening, unfortunate contract dispute, Randy Couture's heavyweight title has been held up for tonight's fight between the two top contenders."

-The pre-fight show included Lesnar talking, annoyingly, about himself in the third person. Tim Sylvia did the same thing. Lesnar said everything about WWE was fake including his friends. He said he even began to feel the money was fake. He was miserable in WWE and it's accurate to say the main reason was that he wasn't competing in the way he was accustomed as an amateur wrestler. He also hated the travel - the airport logistics and the time away from home.

-Fight One: Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau (lightweight division). Great free swinging second half to the first round. The second round was good, but not as good. The third ended with a bit of a fizzle, but there were a few nice blows landed. Almost entirely a stand-up fight, other than a few takedowns by Griffin. RESULT: Tyson by unanimous 30-27 decision. RATING: *** (The punch exchanges were electrifying in round one, but it slowed down enough that by the end, the fans were booing.)

-Just an announcing observation: Rogan is really entertaining and enthusiastic, but he should let Mike Goldberg call the strikes as they happen, then add color. He has a tendency to just take over the announcing and leave Goldberg seeming expendible or walked on or they end up talking over each other. He gets so excited, it seems he can't help himself, but it crosses into being unprofessional.

-Text voting for MIr vs. Lesnar has Lesnar favored 59-41. That's what I would have expected.

-Fight Two: Rob Yundt vs. Ricardo Almeida. Yundt is fighting on three days notice, replacing Alan Belcher, who has bronchitis. I feel his pain this week. Rogan and Goldberg correctly pointed out Yundt has nothing to lose as he'll be excused for losin given the short notice for the fight. He was able to get cleared for the fight quickly since he had gone through the medicals to try out for an upcoming Ultimate Fighter series. After a minute on their feet, Almeida took Yundt down. He tapped Yundt out to a guillotine choke seconds later. He tried to slam Almeida to escape, but Almeida wasn't letting go. (*+)

-Goldberg cited the 59-41 voting in favor of Lesnar and somehow concluded, "Everybody still thinks it'll be Lesnar." Uh, no. Six out of ten is not "everyone."

-They showed Georges St. Pierre in the crowd. Earlier they showed Rampage Jackson in the crowd and also Barry Bonds, whom Rogan called a "cool dude." I just lost respect for Rogan's ability to judge someone's personality.

-A commercial aired for Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson unification title match at UFC82, plus Heath Herring vs. Check Congo.

-They showed Ken Griffey Jr. in the front row.

-Fight Three: Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn. Rogan talked about Marquardt losing to Silva, and rather than pack it in after losing like many fighters do that situation, he said, "I must get better." He said he's more dedicated to training than ever before. Horn absorbed some nasty shots on his back, then the ref stood them up. Horn ate a right elbow to the face and went down, lost his mouthguard, had the wherewithal to find the mouthpiece with his hand and put it back in his mouth quickly, then defend from the ground, and nearly lock on a few submissions from his back as the first round ended. Nice round. The second round ended quickly when Marquardt applied a standing guillotine. Horn tapped frantically right away, but the ref didn't see it. He dropped to his knees and had to get his hands back in a position to tapout again. He did, and the ref quickly called the stoppage. That had to be a dreadful three seconds.

-They showed Chuck Liddell in the crowd. Goldberg then set the stage for upcoming UFC events including Apr. 19's Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre fight in Montreal, Quebec.

-Prelim Fight: Tim Boetsch vs. David Heath. Boetch is another late replacement. Boetch was impressive. Wow. He picked Heath apart with some roundhouse kicks and even more impressive landed several thrust (front) kicks to Heath's mid-section. He landed some solid punches and, in a couple of clinches, landed some knees that began to resemble the treatment Anderson Silva gave to Rich Franklin. Health stayed in it, though, and threw back some strong flurries of punches. Boetch, though, continued to land kneelifts to the head over and over and eventually just threw Heath into the fence hard like a sack of flour, the punched Heath who just left his head open while on all fours until the ref stepped in. Health looked totally dejected, losing to a total unknown who took the fight on short notice. He didn't know enough about Boetch's style to defend or prepare, and that cost him. (***)

-Goldberg said Lesnar is a fighter who made some money in entertainment and is back to fight again. It's amazing they feel the need to be so defensive when it comes to Lesnar's WWE days. Who cares if people think he's "a fake." His fighting will speak for itself. The viewer prediction voting ended with a 55-45 breakdown in favor of Lesnar.

-Fight Four: Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar. Rogan said Lesnar looks like he's straight out of central casting for a movie featuring the MMA Heavyweight Champion. He just looks the part. They showed Kurt Angle in the front row and listed him, surprisingly, as the "TNA World Champion" rather than an Olympic Gold Medalist. They also showed The Undertaker, listing him as a "WWE Smackdown superstar." He acknowledge the crowd. Tale of the tape: Lesnar is 30, Mir is 28. Lesnar weighed in at 265, Mir at 255, but Lesnar cut more weight. Steve Austin was shown next drinking a beer and smiling for the camera. They showed Rena Mero (Sable) in the crowd cheering on her husband.

Lesnar took it to Mir at the start and looked like he had him. He tackled him and pounded on him, but he hit him on the back of the head, which is against the rules. So the ref stood them up, subtracted a point from Lesnar, and restarted the fight. When it restarted, more of the same from Lesnar, but Mir had him in the guard. Lesnar looked undisciplined and uncontrolled, but dangerous, and then Mir locked on Kurt Angle's anklelock finisher and forced Lesnar to tap. When Lesnar felt it being applied, he pulled hard and tried to break loose, but Mir knew how to cinch it in. Super dramatic and exciting, with a storybook ending for jiu jitsu fans as it showed that a world class amateur wrestler with monster strength and striking ability can - just like that - suffer a broken ankle against a smaller jiu jitsu fighter. On the down side, we still don't know if Lesnar can take a punch, either. (***-)

Lesnar stood up dejected, but then a minute later let out a smile as if to realize he got taught a lesson and went through a learning experience.

Mir gave a gracious post-fight interview. He called Lesnar a monster and said he fought his game and came out on top.

Rogan interviewed Lesnar, who was booed by the crowd. He said he sent them his love. He said he was practicing avoiding the anklelock. "He's a top notch jiu jitsu fighter and he got me tonight," he said. He said you win some and lose some, and he'd committed to UFC. That turned the crowd in his favor and he got a nice round of applause.

-They showed Jay-Z in the front row.

-Fight Five: Minotauro Nogueira vs. Tim Silvia. Goldberg and Rogan gave a quick overview of his career, noting he has two loses to Fedor and one to Barnett and Henderson each, both of which he avenged. Rogan said MMA fans worldwide respect him and put him in the top five of the heavyweights in the world. If he's fighting for the title, you'd hope he'd be widely ranked in the top five. Goldberg listed his big wins, also, and noted what Nogueira said in his pre-fight interview - which is he'll be the first to hold both the UFC and Pancrase heavyweight titles. Silvia has a five inch height advantage and three inch reach advantage. Both are 31 years old. No more "Big" John McCarthy. Herb Dean referees this.

Round One: Silvia almost won the fight half way into the round with a flurry of hard punches that took Nogueira down. He got on top and threw more punches, then got up and gladly brought the fight back to a stand-up battle. He didn't have Nogueira in trouble again, but was in control. Late in the round, Nogueira took Silvia down but Silvia knew the round was about to end.

Round Two: It became a "Tim Silvia fight" for the first half of the second round with Silvia landing a few punches, but nothing threatening. Nogueira went for a takedown and Silvia resisted and resisted and resisted. Great battle, and eventually Nogueira gave up on it and they went back to stand-up, with each landing some strong punches. That's how the round ended. Another round to Silvia, but not indisputably so. That takedown defense at 3:00 was dramatic and impressive.

Round Three: Forty-five seconds in Nogueira got Silvia down, and then he rolled him onto his back, got side control, and when Silvia scrambled, Nogueira locked on a guillotine. Silvia tapped quickly at 1:28, then lay back dejected on the mat. Goldberg said Nogueira again found a way to win. Rogan said he has tremendous heart. He was given the "Interim UFC Hvt. Championship." Still no on-air explanation regarding Randy Couture's status. Good fight. (***)

This sets up Mir vs. Nogueira and Lesnar vs. Silvia if UFC wants to go that way. Silvia vs. Lesnar is very intriguing given Silvia's strong takedown defense shown in this fight and Lesnar being completely untested in taking punches to the face. Mir vs. Nogueira is intriguing as a battle between jiu jitsu experts.

Rogan interviewed Silvia, who said every fight Nogueira is in he takes a beating for ten minutes and then finds a way to win. He said just when he got the fans backing him, he loses a fight. He threw out a few plugs for the site of his party and dejectedly walked out of the Octagon.

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