If the UFC has hit a rough patch on their road into mainstream America, the double main event for UFC 79 should get tongues wagging again: Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre for the interim Welterweight title (Matt Serra is out with a back injury), and Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva in light heavyweight action.

St. Pierre is stepping in for Serra on short notice, but this match has been brewing since GSP beat Hughes for the title at UFC 65. And the MMA world is on the edge of its seat to see if Liddell has anything left to offer Silva after two bad losses.

Here is the rest of the Dec. 29 card:

Main

Light heavyweight: Lyoto Machida vs. Thierry Sokoudjou
Lightweight bout: Nate Mohr vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Lightweight bout: Rich Clementi vs. Melvin Guillard

Preliminary

Welterweight: Tony DeSouza vs. Roan Carneiro
Middleweight: Dean Lister vs. Jordan Radev
Lightweight: Doug Evans vs. Mark Bocek
Heavyweight: Eddie Sanchez vs. Soa Palalei

The fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva has been long anticipated. In fact, it’s been so long anticipated that this fight doesn’t mean anything now other than bragging rights.

Both are beyond their prime, and a Light Heavyweight Championship is not in either of their futures. Now that Liddell has been outclassed in his last two fights, and exposed as the one-dimensional fighter he is, it might make for a good fight against Silva who has lost four of his last eight fights.

Like many UFC fights of late, this fight is not the best fighters fighting for top honors. It’s the best-known fighters fighting for pay-per-view ratings. I will certainly watch the two legends fight, but I think Silva will end Chuck Liddell’s UFC career. If Silva’s clinch and knee combinations don’t get to Liddell, Silva needs only to take the fight to the ground to ensure victory.

- Alistair Overeem submitted Paul Buentello at 3:42 of Round 2 to become the Strikeforce Heavyweight champion.

- Jorge Santiago def. Trevor Prangley via TKO (knees) at 2:31 of Round 1 to become the Strikeforce Middleweight tournament champion.

- Cung Le KO’ed Sam Morgan at 1:58 of Round 3.

- Dennis Hallman submitted Jeremiah Metcalf (heel hook) at 1:39 of Round 1.

- Chris Drumm and Evan Esguerra fought to a No Contest.

- Alex Crispin def. Clint Coronel via Unanimous Decision.

- Anthony Figueroa def. Pete Sabala via Split Decision.

- Eric Lawson submitted Josh Neal (rear naked choke) at 0:20 of Round 2.

- Jorge Santiago KO’ed Sean Salmon at 0:24 of Round 1.

- Trevor Prangley def. Falaniko Vitale at 0:20 of Round 2.

- Luke Stewart KO’ed Bryson Kamaka at 0:19 of Round 1.

- Anthony Ruiz def. Bobby Southworth (cut stoppage) at 0:52 of Round 2.

- Lemont Davis def. Brian Schwartz via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.

The notion that a debate should arise as to whether or not women should participate in cage fighting is ridiculous. If two women want to engage in combat, they should be allowed to do so. There have been women in boxing for years, and mixed martial arts doesn’t present any extra risk beyond boxing. The idea that we need to protect women from each other or from regulated combat sport is backwards thinking.

The promotion of female boxing was the most interesting development the sport had going for it in quite a while. Some MMA promotions are already showing female fights but it has not reached the bigger promotions yet. There have to be more female fighters in the sport before it turns into something we’ll see often.

Female cage fighting is fast and promises to be very technical. The couple of fights that I have seen had female fighters that were well trained, tough, and knew their way around the cage.

If you’re looking for highlight videos of UFC 78, the best moments to look for were in the preliminary fights and the Silva vs. Alexander matchup. Everyone expected the Alexander / Silva fight to end with a KO, and the boys didn’t disappoint when Silva got Alexander in full mount and KO’d him with strikes to the head in the first round.

But the stoppage of the night goes to Ed Herman for his win over veteran Canadian Joe Doerksen. Herman got the KO after the bell saved him in the previous round when Doerksen had Herman locked into an arm bar.

The most impressive video features Joe Lauzon’s win over Jason Reinhardt. Lauzon looked very sharp finishing Reinhardt with a rear naked choke in just over one minute of the first round. Lauzon has come a long way since the Ultimate Fighter series and will be one to watch for.

I’ll leave you with a video clip of the boring Silva/Alexander fight at UFC 78. Enjoy.

UFC 78 was not as anticipated as most UFC events, but it turned out to be a pretty good card of fights.

The main event will not be up for fight of the year. Bisping and Evans had an even fight with Evans gaining a small edge with some great takedowns. Bisping got the best of the stand-up fight but lost a split decision to the Ultimate Fighter 1 winner.

The Houston Alexander / Thiago Silva fight was a bit of a surprise. Alexander was exposed as the one-dimensional fighter that he is when Thiago quickly took him to the ground and gained full mount. Then Silva ground and pounded him to a first-round KO.

In the other fights Frank Edgar won a unanimous decision over Spencer Fisher. Ed Herman KO’d Joe Doerksen in Round 3, and Karo Parisyan won a unanimous decision over Ryo Chonan.

When considering the origins of Mixed Martial Arts all stories lead back to one dominant narrative- the Gracie family bringing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the United States.
MMA grew as a posrt and a business both in the US as well as Japan. Where in America pro wrestling is largely considered entertainment and a bit of a joke in Japan a wholly different story arises.
Antonio Inoki was the biggest star of New Japan Pro Wrestling, and he brought in a variety of combat athletes to fight him in “mixed martial arts” bouts. The results were predetermined for Inoki to win and prove his supremacy, but his opponents were real athletes like judo star Willem Ruska and karate star Willie Williams. The most famous was Muhammad Ali, who decided upon his arrival in Japan that he didn’t want to lose to Inoki. That led to a shoot, where Inoki lied on his back and kicked at Ali’s legs.
The Japanese infatuation with reality in MMA grew insatiable and carried into the 1980s, with the rise of a new star, Akira Maeda. After being angered about the less realistic fighting style of New Japan Maeda broke for good with the company in 1988 and reformed the Universal Wrestling Federation.
The UWF promised a more realistic style than New Japan and promoted itself as if it were real. This perception was bolstered by Maeda’s chaotic history. Maeda was involved in pro wrestling matches that disintegrated into shoots with major stars including Andre the Giant, Satoru Sayama and Riki Choshu.
The crowning moment for the UWF was a sold-out show at the Tokyo Dome in November 1989 that drew 60,000 fans and grossed $5.6 million.
There was a power struggle, and the popular promotion imploded. Shinji Jin, the UWF’s promoter and president fired all the wrestlers and the promotion ceased to exist after a Dec. 1, 1990, show where Masakatsu Funaki beat Ken Shamrock in the main event. The UWF left behind a strong legacy; 27 of the 31 shows promoted by the UWF sold out, and the era of mixed martial arts was knocking at the door.

I’ll leave you with some classic Akira Maeda video. Enjoy.

Because Dana White and the UFC are so cheap, UFC 78 will be filled with fighters who will get paid next to nothing so the UFC can widen their profit margin even further this time. I guess paying peanuts to their champions wasn’t enough. Now we’re supposed to pay our hard-earned money for an event full of up-and-comers. It’s not like the UFC MMA monopoly isn’t controlling enough talent, yet they prefer to promote the Ultimate Fighter combatants who are under the cheap contracts.

This is an opportunity for MMA fans to say, “we’re getting fed up with the lack of respect that the UFC is showing its fighters and fans”. Dana White is giving us the fights he wants to show us, not the ones we want to see. Maybe after the ratings tank on this pay per view, the UFC will wake up and shake their heads.

Karo Parisyan will be looking to put himself in contention for the welterweight title when he fights Ryo Chonan at UFC 78. Parisyan is a judo fighter who keeps the pressure on his opponents from bell to bell. His loss last year against Diego Sanchez was considered the best fight of 2006.

Chonan brings a lot of international fighting experience to his first fight in the UFC. Best known for the flying scissor-lock on Anderson Silva, he has battled the best in the world. He has the ability to be an important fighter in the welterweight division and will be looking to establish himself in the division.

This fight has the potential to be one of the best of the year, as both fighters have something to prove. I expect it to go the distance, with Parisyan winning a decision after dominating the pace and Chonan for three rounds.

The Rashad Evans (10-0-1) / Michael Bisping (15-0-0) fight should be a good one. As much as everyone thinks that it should not be a main event, the fight promises to entertain.

Bisping is a talented striker who is also proficient at ground submissions. He is coming off a questionable win against Matt Hamill and will be looking to take out Evans and make a statement.

Evans is coming off a draw with Tito Ortiz last July. It’s the only blemish on his record, and he too will be looking to make a statement on the 17th. The two match up pretty well, with Bisping holding an edge on the ground.

Both can end the fight with either hand or foot, and we can expect the fight to be a stand-up battle until someone starts to get dominated and attempts a takedown. I’ll take the athleticism of Rashad Evans.