Matt Vandeventer

Thumbs up for Fight Night.

I don't know if was because I went in with no expectations, but the four televised fights were great.  I ordered UFC 101 and 102 with my buddies and while they were fine shows, we still paid for some dud bouts on the main card.  We won't be ordering UFC 103 because of Mayweather/Marquez, but I'll bet 103 will follow the trend of being not as entertaining as the recent free show.

Best fight: Quarry/Credeur.  Just two men pummeling each other.  Contrary to what BJJ lovers may say (And I'm one of them), it's fun to see a fight like this on every card.

Worst fight: None really.  Honorable mention I guess goes to Round 3 of Huerta/Maynard for the Gray's typical lay-and-pray action in the third round. That guy still annoys me to no end, but I give him credit for staying on his feet and trading for the first two rounds.

On another note, I had to watch the Sportsnet broadcast and it was terrible this time around.  They usually returned 10-15 seconds late so the rounds were already started.  Or they came back too early when the fighter was at the "prep point", so they immediately blacked out and went back to commercials or to the same damn baseball and hockey highlights they showed not 10 minutes ago.  Was not impressed.

Patrick Phutthavong

Thumbs: Flying
Best Match: Condit-Ellenberger.
Worst Match: Rich Franklin and a promo; Mike Goldberg and a microphone.

Another great Fight Night. Every match delivered. I gave the Carlos Condit fight the nod because I think it marked the emergence of a big, new potential UFC star. Condit has such a unique charisma, body and skill set. He showed an amazing chin and heart tonight, coming back from oblivion to win in a way you thought he never could. He's had a long string of very good fights over the past few years and just needs a good matchup on a big stage next to become a star.

And, please, UFC, next time, show Condit doing his full ring entrance where he morphs from a nice, clean cut kid into a disturbed sociopath while walking to the octagon. Best ring entrance in the sport since the heyday of Sakuraba, and it needs to be seen to be believed.

Other thoughts:
--Melvin has such great potential and heel charisma, but he should either get serious about improving his technique or form a tag team with Crazyhorse Bennett and move to Japan. The Diaz brothers could do the same, but they could also become MMA supertars if they keep their shit together...but why does that seem so unlikely?
--Let Quarry fight Credur again..and maybe again. Great stuff, and they seem custom made for pummeling each other.
--Too bad Huerta didn't pull it out. Don't see Maynard having much of an upside. But I guess Huerta may be leaving anyway. What coulda' been...
--Disappointed not to get a replay of either Dolloway or Stann fights. But on a night of three good fights going the distance, it's hard to complain.
--I'll never understand why Dana committed to such a long-term deal with Franklin while he's short-armed so many equally gifted and far more charismatic fighters. Rich needs to be played against a monster heel or Stone Cold-type face, not a douchebag flake like Belfort. I don't care how good their preview show is, because I just can't bring myself to care about either of them.
--Goldberg should be instructed to never hype the product (much less comment on how hot the ring girls are). He oozes the kind of cheesy insincerity this promotion claims it wants to obliterate. His believability quotient isn't even up to the standard of a second-rate infomercial host--or of Mauro Ranallo. And his play-by-play isn't much better. I'd rather listen to Don Lupree or a pre-heel turn Coachman.

Michael Regan

Thumbs way way WAY up

Best fight: Condit vs. Ellenberger

Worst fight: none

KO: n/a

Sub: Nate Diaz

No KOs, only 1 sub, and a great card regardless. Quarry and Credeur ripped it up in an all action fight and then Condit and Ellenberger (what planet did THIS guy drop down from) topped 'em with even more action and better technique. Maynard and Huerta kept it going with a very interesting tactical fight where Huerta nullified Maynard's wrestling until the last round but Maynard outboxed Huerta, although Huerta landed the bigger punches. All the decisions were close but IMO they were all correct. Guillard and Nate Diaz also kept the level up with Guillard looking both sharp and actually smart until Diaz caught him in the sub. Free card again tops the PPVs.

As far as TUF goes---is Rashad gonna keep outsmarting Rampage like that all 8 weeks? No wonder Page doesn't want the fight. LOL

Crimson Mask