UFC 78: Put It in the Books

The highlight of the night was absolutely Bruce Buffer telling Ed Herman, "Yeah, you fucked him up," after knocking out Joe Doerksen. As for the fights themselves...nothing special at all.

- I expected a lot more from Frankie Edgar-Spencer Fisher fight, but Edgar had no problem taking Fisher down whenever he wanted, so it's hard to argue with what works. Edgar may not have pleased the crowd, but he scored takedown after takedown and did some damage on the ground. Fisher, on the other hand, mounted virtually zero offense for 15 minutes. Good win over a dangerous veteran for Edgar.

- Rashad Evans beat Michael Bisping, just as I expected, and I'm still not sure how one judge scored the fight for Bisping. Bisping's takedown defense was good, but Rashad took him down enough to impress the judges. Neither fighter did much damage on their feet, but Rashad seemed to have gotten the better of those exchanges in my estimation. If this fight launches Rashad to title contention, Rampage has nothing to worry about. Also likely is the possibility of Rashad fighting Tito Ortiz again. Yes, again.

- Once Joe Lauzon got Jason Reinhardt to the ground, it was lights out as expected. This was nothing more than a showcase fight for Lauzon, who wasn't really tested. It was good to see Lauzon back in action, though.

- I thought Joe Doerksen was going to pull off the submission, but Ed Herman was saved by the bell and went on to score a vicious KO in one of the better fights of the night. It's hard for me to get excited over this win because Herman is still a middle-of-the-pack middleweight who's no match for Anderson Silva (not that he's in line for a title fight).

- I thought that Houston Alexander and Thiago Silva were going to slug it out, which is why I went with Alexander, who for some reason or another decided to clinch with Silva early. he was then promptly taken down and beaten like he stole something. Silva pounded the seemingly invincible Alexander from the mount and at one point was bouncing Alexander's head off the mat with punches. I like Silva. I like his Chute-Boxe camp, I like his tattoos, and I like the way he snarled after finishing off Alexander.

- The Karo Parisyan-Ryo Chonan fight went down as expected pretty much. Karo controlled his body for 15 minutes, avoided any real damage, and took home a one-sided victory. Anyone else think Karo's ready for - and deserving of - some tougher competition?

Condit, Filho Leave WEC 29 as Champions

I'm over in Italy and am pissed that I didn't catch last night's WEC 29. At least I can watch it when I get home in a few days.

In the one of the night's headlining fights, Carlos Condit, a.k.a. "The Natutral Born Killer," finished off the always tough Brock Larson via an arm bar in the first round to retain his WEC welterweight championship.

In the other co-main event, former Pride middleweight stud Paulo Filho kept his undefeated record in tact after knocking out Canadian journeyman Joe Doerksen in the very first round and capturing the vacant WEC middleweight belt.

Unfortunately, Filho (WEC MW champ) and Black House teammate Anderson Silva (UFC MW champ) are very close friends and have said that they'd never fight one another. Our loss. Like I said, I haven't seen last night's fights, but if Filho is finishing people with his hands, you've got to consider him as one of - if not the - best in the world at 185.

For the full rundown of WEC 29, click here.

WEC August 5 Card Updated

WEC 29 will take place next Sunday, August 5 and will air at 9 PM ET, free on the Versus Network.

Here's what we have so far:

Main Card

Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson*

Paulo Filho vs. Joe Doerksen**

Stephen Ledbetter vs. Jeff Curran

Sherron Leggett vs. Jamie Varner

Undercard

Fernando Gonzalez vs. Hiromitsu Miura

Justin Robbins vs. Antonio Banuelos

Logan Clark vs. Eric Schambari

Steve Cantwell vs. TBD

Blas Avena vs. Tiki Ghosn

*Welterweight title fight
** Middleweight title fight.

Two title fights on free TV is tough to beat.

WEC Confirms Aug. 5 Headline Fights

It's official! WEC welterweight champ "The Natural Born Killer" Carlos Condit will face top contender Brock Larson, and undefeated Brazilian middleweight Paulo Filho will fight for the vacant WEC 185-lb. belt against Canadian veteran Joe Doerksen on August 5 at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

For the 23-year-old Condit, Brock Larson is quite possibly his toughest opponent to date, but the champ doesn't seem shaken: "I respect his ability on the ground and I admire his willingness to fight anyone at anytime, but I’m coming into this fight in the best shape of my life, and no one has the skill or the heart that I have."

Larson is a beast who brings into the cage a power and fury rarely seen at 170 lbs. "Condit is a great fighter, but my time is now. I will be leaving Las Vegas with the belt. If he wants to stand I will stand, and if he wants to take it to the ground I’ll beat him on the ground. One way or the other I’m going to punish him," says the Minnesota native.

Standing between Joe Doerksen and WEC middleweight glory is Brazilian Top Team's Paulo Filho, a former Pride middleweight star whom many believe should be contending for the UFC 185-lb. belt. And Filho doesn't disagree. Still, he remains focused on the task at hand: "I’m looking forward to fighting on a world stage and impressing the American audience. Joe is a well rounded competitor with strong striking, and he is in for the fight of his life come August 5.”

MMA veteran Joe Doerksen, who holds impressive wins over Dennis Kang, Chris Leben, Patrick Cote, and Ed Herman, would like to pad what is an already impressive resume and show the MMA world that he's still got it. “I know Filho is considered one of the best middleweights on the planet; that is why I’m training harder for this fight than any other fight in my life. Filho hasn’t fought someone as well rounded as myself, and I’m going to look to finish him early in the fight."

I happen to like Doerksen's strategy for this fight. Filho is an extremely powerful wrestling machine whom you do not want to take into later rounds. Then again, finishing him off early has proven to be easier said than done. Filho has yet to lose a professional MMA fight.

The action will start at 9 PM (New York time) on the Versus channel, which is for free for most of you. WEC boasts some great fighters (Condit, Larson, Filho, "Razor" Rob, Urijah Faber, "Mayhem" Miller, Cub Swanson) and has been putting on excellent shows, so make it a point to tune in and see what MMA talent there is outside the UFC!

Morning Droppings

- 2005 Pride Grand Prix Tournament winner Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will make his UFC debut at UFC 76 in September against the always dangerous TBA. UFC prez Dana White considers Rua an immediate contender for the light-heavyweight belt, which he should. Rua is widely regarded as the best 205-pounder in all of MMA.

- The UFC has confirmed that Michael Bisping will indeed be facing Matt Hamill at UFC 75 in London. Enough of this Ken Shamrock hullaballoo...

- Word on the street is that middleweights Joe Doerksen and Paulo Filho will be fighting on August 5 in Las Vegas as part of the WEC 29 card, which will be broadcast live on Versus Network at 9 p.m. ET.

- Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett was actually released from a Florida jail yesterday morning, and a flight was booked for him to arrive in San Jose in time to weigh in for his scheduled EliteXC fight against Vincent "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela tonight. Unfortunately, Krazy Horse hit traffic on the way to the airport and missed his flight.

- BJ Penn has invited UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon to move to Hawaii and train with BJ and company. BJ even offered his star TUF 5 pupil a spot in a fighters' house for a year or two, and Lauzon is looking into IT jobs in Hawaii. After all, a man's got to pay his bills.