Article:Sport Crack UFC 83 Recap

If you happened to DVR this, or plan to watch it somehow illegally online, do not read any farther. Because you’ll find out who wins. There, you’ve been warned.

Mark Bocek vs. Mac Danzig

Mac Danzig, the Season 6 winner of the Ultimate Fighter made an impressive lightweight debut with a 3rd round win by submission. Bocek’s face was literally covered in blood at one point and even though he lost, he showed how solid of a chin he has -- taking three thunderous knees to the jaw and failing to be knocked out. In the end, Bocek was just too beaten up and Danzig slipped in a rear naked choke for the submission victory.

Charles McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping

After defending a flurry of blows from Bisping early, McCarthy got cocky and stuck out his tongue and shook his head at Bisping. Bisping didn’t take too kindly, effectively going to town on McCarthy for the remainder of the round and scoring a first round TKO.

Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes

In the first ever 30-24 scorecard (yes, seriously), Quarry easily cruised to a unanimous decision after failing to knock out Kalib Starnes. Starnes spent much of the fight backpedaling, evoking boo’s from the crowd to the surprise of many (he was supposed to be a home-country favorite). From the looks of it, Starnes just might have injured himself early -- because there is no other reason for him to have been retreating so much.

Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin

In my most anticipated fight of the evening, Franklin narrowly escaped having his arm broken, skillfully rolling out of it and continuing on to a 2nd round TKO. After the fight, Franklin took a couple of verbal jabs at Lutter, claiming it’s common knowledge that his conditioning isn’t very good. This was probably due to Lutter’s pre fight comments about his doubts that Franklin’s knee surgery was real and he was making excuses. Apparently not.

Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre

In the rematch of the shocking first fight (Serra knocked out St. Pierre in the first round), St. Pierre looked to be in a different league than Serra for much of the fight. Following several cracking knees to the ribs, the referee stopped the fight with 15 seconds to go in the 2nd round, effectively allowing St. Pierre to win back the belt he felt he so wrongly lost.

Other under card results:

Jason MacDonald defeats Joe Doerksen by TKO in the 2nd round.

Jason Day defeats Alan Belcher by TKO in the 1st round.

Demian Maia defeats Ed Herman by submission in the 2nd round by triangle choke.

Rich Clementi awarded split decision win over Sam Stout.

Cain Velasquez defeats Brad Morris by TKO in the 1st round.

Jonathan Goulet defeats Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO in the 2nd round.

Final thoughts: It appears that many of the experts were correct and Serra never really stood a chance against G.S.P. in the rematch. He landed some blows, yes, but St. Pierre seemingly had a counter for everything that Serra threw at him. And those knees looked brutal.

Charles McCarthy looked like a clown. If your going to mock somebody blatantly, at least don't get your ass kicked in the same round.

Rich Franklin looked great and his knee surgery appears to have gone well. His escape from Lutter's arm bar is perhaps the best MMA move I have seen thus far in 2008. Look for it on YouTube tomorrow.

I'm liking Mac Danzig more and more each time I see him fight. I'm getting the feeling we might just see the blossoming of a new UFC star.