UFC 79 Nemesis ended up being even better than expected. In the main event Georges St. Pierre easily handled ex-champion Matt Hughes with a second-round submission. St. Pierre dominated the fight from the onset, taking Hughes to the ground halfway through the first. Then he worked past his guard and laid the ground and pounded on him until the end of the round. The second round was more of the same until St. Pierre got Hughes in an arm bar and won by submission.

The other marquee fight on the card had two legends going toe-to-toe for three rounds. Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell didn’t hold anything back as the two aging fighters both wanted to put on a show for their fans. Both men took hard shots but kept going at each other until the final bell. Liddell ended up winning by unanimous decision.

One of the great Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners of all-time will be in action later this month at UFC 79. Wanderlei Silva, the former PRIDE middleweight champion, will face Chuck Liddell. Also on the card are fellow countrymen Lyoto Machida, Luis Cane and Roan Carneiro.

Brazil is well represented at the top levels of the sport, but their local scene doesn’t get a lot of attention. RioHeroes may yet change that. The vale tudo promotion wrapped up its first year of operations on Tuesday with their “RioHeroes 13” tournament. Flavio Alvaro and Udi Lima survived all the way to the finals, where Alvaro won by submission to become a two-time RH champion.

This fighting style is not for the faint of heart. We’re talking old school steel cage matches – no timekeeping, and very few holds barred. But this isn’t a backyard brawl; the fighters take their craft seriously, and the promotion does not charge admission. Top that, UFC.

What has Chuck Liddell done for you lately? Not much – two straight unimpressive losses, against Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. But Liddell is not alone in his frustrations. His opponent at UFC 79, Wanderlei Silva, has also dropped two matches in a row, to Mirko Filipovic and Dan Henderson. Fittingly, Liddell and Silva are each priced at –115.

This is a perfect moment for Liddell to get back on track. If he was tentative against Jackson or lacking in motivation against Jardine, he’ll be neither of those things against Silva. Liddell has been thinking about knocking Silva out for well over a year, since they were the 205-pound champions of UFC and PRIDE, respectively.

We’ve seen ex-PRIDE fighters like Filipovic and Henderson struggle in the octagon since the promotion was purchased by UFC. One notable exception: Jackson. Will Silva make it two? With two strikers like this in the octagon, it could be a case of first punch wins.

Georges St. Pierre has walked right into the welterweight title picture; he’s a –200 chalk to become the interim champion on Dec. 29 when he faces Matt Hughes (+160) at UFC 79.

This was originally Matt Serra’s title to defend against Hughes, but that match went down the drain when Serra suffered a back injury. Now St. Pierre gets to fight the same man he beat for the title at UFC 65; that match saw GSP beat Hughes by TKO in the second round to even their career series at one apiece.

St. Pierre will be itching to get the title back after dropping it to Serra and losing just his second match ever at UFC 69, a loss that prompted him to reorganize his camp. He is ranked second in Sherdog’s welterweight rankings; Hughes is third. Given the way GSP took down No. 5 Josh Koscheck at UFC 74, he’s the easy pick to do it again to Hughes.

I’ll leave you now with a video clip (in French of course) of what Georges St. Pierre can do. Enjoy.

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.