Last night’s UFC 87 event from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. proved to be yet another strong showing from the UFC with very few negatives involved with the promotion and production of the show.

The event saw two of the promotion’s biggest stars walk away victorious in fights that went to the judges yet whose outcomes were never truly in doubt.

Lesnar, the former NCAA and WWE heavyweight champion, got off to an explosive start against Heath Herring, blasting him with an overhand right early in the fight that floored the former PRIDE veteran. Lesnar, who once spent training camp with the Minnesota Vikings, then exploded like a defensive end coming off the edge on a blitz and went in for the kill.

An over-zealous Lesnar landed out of position and was unable to finish Herring during the opening seconds of the fight. However, what proceeded was three rounds of dominance, with Lesnar showing he could take Herring down at will. When it was over, Lesnar evened his UFC record to 1-1 while improving his overall MMA record to 2-1. It is unclear who he’ll face next, but Lesnar showed all the ingredients of a future heavyweight champion during the unanimous decision victory.

While former NCAA wrestler Jon Fitch proved he was the number two ranked welterweight in the world last night with a gritty performance, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre proved there is a strong gap between number one and two. Despite having no formal wrestling background in high school or college, St. Pierre proved to be Fitch’s equal on the mat.

On the feet, Fitch was no match for St. Pierre’s superior athleticism. Despite showing a strong chin and an amazing will to fight with less than his full faculties, Fitch was out-pointed in the standup aspect for virtually the full 25-minute duration of the contest. It was St. Pierre’s utilization of a stiff left jab, reminiscent of how B.J. Penn peppered Sean Sherk during their UFC 84 title fight in May, that appeared to have done the most damage. However, the standup exchange was not one-sided, as Fitch landed his shots as well, managing to open up St. Pierre in the process. But when the bout was done, it was evident by looking at the faces of both fighters that Fitch clearly sustained the most damage.

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UFC 87 is now in the books and it was one of the best shows, if not the best show, all year. Georges St. Pierre defended his title against an incredibly game Jon Fitch, Brock Lesnar proved his worth against Heath Herring, and Roger Huerta failed to do the same against a technical Kenny Florian. Let’s get right into breaking it down.

Georges St. Pierre is on another level at 170 lbs.

Jon Fitch proved tonight that he is a man’s man and has zero quit in him. His tenacity, recovery speed, and aggression were all extremely admirable. What he also showed is that no one, and I mean no one, in the weight class has what it takes to contend with St. Pierre’s overall game. Standing or on the ground, St. Pierre is dominant. If he can’t finish you with his strikes, he will take you down. If he can’t take you down, he’ll work you over on the feet. He is as multi-dimensional of a fighter as there is in all of mixed martial arts right now and that includes the current consensus pound-for-pound king, Anderson Silva. No one in the weight class has a prayer right now to beat him. Not Thiago Alves, not Jake Shields, not Karo Parisyan, nobody. B.J. Penn is the only fighter with a sliver of a chance and with Penn’s in-ring challenge after the fight, it’s looking like we’ll get to see that superfight sooner than later, hopefully in December.

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One of the big storylines going into Saturday night’s event wasn’t whether or not Georges St. Pierre would defend his crown against Jon Fitch. Nor was it the question of whether or not Roger Huerta would step up to the plate and win in his toughest fight in the UFC to date. Instead, it was the most overlooked storyline, whether or not Brock Lesnar would record a victory over a legitimate heavyweight and prove his worth in the UFC, that was answered with a resounding “yes.”

Brock Lesnar dominated Heath Herring from start to finish on Saturday night, setting the tone of the fight by dropping Herring on his rear end with a crushing right hand to his left eye in the opening seconds of round one. From there, it was all Lesnar for the rest of the fight.

Lesnar controlled Herring’s back for most of the fight with Herring absorbing a massive amount of punishment from Lesnar’s boulder-sized fists and a ridiculous amount of knees to the body. Herring proved his worth as one of the best gatekeepers in all of MMA, taking a beating and not folding. Herring has taken beatings from some of the world’s best heavyweights and this one was just another day at the office in his book.

Herring tried valiantly to escape Lesnar’s top control but was largely unable to do so and in the end, Lesnar came away with a dominant victory, sending his record to 2-1 and proving to the MMA world that he belongs in the UFC. Time will only tell what’s next for Lesnar as the UFC’s heavyweight division isn’t as strong as it used to be but he certainly proved to the doubters tonight that he is for real.

Heath Herring is all mohawk and confidence in this interview with MMA Rated. At the end Ariel asks Herring for a kiss…

Is it just me does Ariel have a knack for getting these fighters to loosen up on camera?

HT: RawVegas.tv

On his exclusive blog for SpikeTV.com, Evan Tanner reveals that he was devastated by Saturday’s split decision loss to Kendall Grove during the main event of the live season finale for “The Ultimate Fighter” and that he’s considering retirement.

“I was pissed off about the fight, f**king sad, f**king raging, on edge, all of it heavy with me, trying to maintain, trying not to explode,” a candid Tanner writes. “Camera men in my face, corner men, doctors, security, paramedics, friends, journalists, too many bodies crowding me, too many hands pulling me too many ways. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breath, standing there afraid of the man that would come out if I lost control. I broke free, turned my back, stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. I tried to catch my breath in that small space, tried to calm down.”

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In former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner’s most recent post on his website, he confirmed that all the documentation has been signed for his next fight this summer.

In true Tanner style he won’t name the opponent but as we read earlier this week on Kendall Grove’s personal website, the TUF 3 middleweight winner will be his opponent.

As a whole this isn’t really news because if you remember last month Tanner already stated that he had been given an opponent and a date for his next fight. The reason I post this “update” is because in the latest blog entry, Tanner asked for the MMA blogosphere’s help in spreading the word of the new shirt available from Team Tanner.

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Kendall Grove will take on former UFC middleweight champion, Evan Tanner at the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale according to Grove’s personal website.

The match-up is listed in the “Upcoming Fight” section on the homepage.

Grove, the winner of TUF 3’s middleweight tournament is currently on a two fight losing streak following successive TKO losses to TUF 4 veterans, Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera. ‘Da Spyder’ has a 3-2 record in the UFC scoring wins over Ed Herman, Chris Price and the talented but erratic, Alan Belcher.

Tanner recently made a return to mixed martial arts competition after nearly a two year hiatus from the sport. His comeback fight against top middleweight contender, Yushin Okami was unsuccessful however as he suffered a second round KO at the knee of Japanese fighter.

As stated above this fight will take place on the Ultimate Fighter 7 season finale which is set to take place on June 21 at The Palms, Las Vegas. The main event that night will be a welterweight clash between Diego Sanchez and Luigi Fioravanti.

Kudos to The Fight Network for the find.

Read more Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

In his most recent post on his website, former UFC middleweight champion, Evan Tanner has stated that UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva has given him both an opponent and date for his next fight.

From EvanTanner.net:

Just talked with Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker. He gave me a date and an opponent. Looks like I’ll be back in the Octagon this summer.

It’s good to have a fight scheduled. The last two weeks have been really rough. I’ll tell the story on that in the next few days.

Tanner recently made a comeback to fighting after nearly a two year layoff at this month’s UFC 82. It proved to be unsuccessful as Tanner suffered a second round knockout to top UFC middleweight Yushin Okami.

Read more Evan Tanner content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

CLICK HERE for more UFC 82 content from 5 Oz. of Pain!

We will be bringing you our coverage of UFC 82 this weekend with our patented LIVE chat , plus we’ll be updating the fight results as they happen. Five Ounces of Pain will be your destination for everything UFC 82 this weekend so keep this page bookmarked and be sure to join other 5 Oz. readers, staff, and other MMA fans on Saturday!

WHEN: Saturday, March 1st, 2008 - UFC 82 - Chat will start at 9 PM ET

WHAT: UFC 82 Live Results and Chat!

MAIN CARD
• CHAMPION Anderson Silva def. Dan Henderson (UFC Middleweight Title) via Rear Naked Choke (tapout) Rd 2 (12 secs left in round)
• Heath Herring def. Cheick Kongo via Split Decision.
• Chris Leben def. Alessio Sakara via TKO (Strikes) Rd 1.
  
• Yushin Okami def. Evan Tanner via Knockout (Knee to head) Rd 2.
• Jon Fitch def. Chris Wilson via Unanimous Decision.

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Andrei Arlovski def. Jake O’Brien via TKO (Strikes from the mount) Rd 2.
• Luigi Fioravanti def. Luke Cummo via Unanimous Decision.
• Josh Koscheck def. Dustin Hazelett via TKO (head kick, then strikes) Rd 2.
• Diego Sanchez def. David Bielkheden via Submission (Strikes) Rd 1.
• Jorge Gurgel def. John Halverson via Unanimous Decision.

I recently conducted an email-based interview with former UFC middleweight champion, Evan Tanner. Tanner has not fought since April of 2006 and will make his comeback against the talented, Yushin Okami at UFC 82. He managed to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of my questions.

Sam Cupitt: Thanks for the interview Evan, how has it been going?

Evan Tanner: It’s been going great. Just been training, and working on some big projects.

Sam Cupitt: As everyone has probably heard, you will be fighting Yushin Okami on the UFC 82 card next month. Your last fight was back in 2006, and in between then and now you’ve gone on a bit of a roller coaster ride, which has been documented on your personal website. You probably don’t want to rehash all of it but was their a single point in time when you decided you just wanted to start fighting again?

Evan Tanner: Yeah, I’ve got the big fight with Okami coming up soon. I’m looking forward to that. I took a little break from the fighting, but I definitely didn’t quit, or retire. I’ve been in the game, fighting consistently for over ten years. I just wanted to take a little break. I went on some adventures, and took some time to take care of some things in my personal life, and now I’m ready to go again.

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It’s official. Following rumors and speculation, UFC.com has listed a match between middleweights Evan Tanner and Yushin Okami at UFC 82. The event takes place Marh 1 in Columbus, Ohio.

This adds to what is already a stacked card and the result is bad news for Josh Koscheck and Dustin Hazelett. The fight between the two welterweights will occur prior to the live telecast and will only appear on the pay-per-view if time allows.

Former UFC middleweight champion, Tanner last fought in 2006 when he defeated Justin Levens at UFC 59. He then dropped out of fighting despite numerous rumors of his return. He has had a string of bad luck, including the sinking of his boat, much of which he has attributed to his problems with alcohol.

Okami holds a 21-4 record, including five wins and one loss in the UFC. He has recently defeated Jason MacDonald and Mike Swick. His single loss in the UFC has come at the hands of former champion, Rich Franklin.

The rest of the card officially includes:

• Anderson Silva vs Dan Henderson for Silva’s middleweight title.
• Heath Herring vs Cheick Kongo

Read more Evan Tanner, Josh Koscheck, and UFC 82 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

During a question and answer session with UK fight fans on Friday, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan revealed that middleweights Yushin Okami and Evan Tanner are set to face each other on April 19 at UFC 84 in Montreal, reports MMAWeekly.com.

UFC vice president of talent relations Joe Silva reportedly confirmed Rogan’s comments.

UFC 84 is scheduled to be headlined by a welterweight title match between incumbent Matt Serra and challenger Georges St. Pierre.

The UFC has yet to formally announce the UFC 84 card, but is expected to do so during a press conference in Montreal on February 4. At that time, additional matches could be announced.

So far rumored bouts for the card include Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves, Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek, and Joe Doerksen vs. Jason MacDonald. Canadian fighters Patrick Cote and Sam Stout could be included on the card as well.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG