Luckily, the injury rate for this event subsided slightly and the card stabilized long enough for an official announcement of the fights. For an event that seemed to fulfill End of Days prophecies, it was a pretty exciting night, with only 3 decisions in 10 fights.

First of all, UFC 108 was bad news for the Lauzons, as both Dan and Joe lost their fights. Dan Lauzon was caught in a bizarre triangle and kimura combo by Cole Miller. Joe Lauzon was simply outmatched in all 3 rounds of his fight against Sam Stout, who has come out looking a much better prospect after his disappointing beginnings in the UFC.

Also on this card was Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel. Originally, this was scheduled to be a fight between dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga, which was a very exciting fight for anyone interested in Dos Santos’ rise through the heavyweight division. Gonzaga got sick, however, and Yvel stepped up to replace him. Gilbert Yvel is known for three things – fouls, KO victories, and absolutely no ground game. What a surprise, then, when Junior dos Santos chose to stand with Yvel, knocking him down and then finishing him off at 2:07 of the first round. It’s not all that impressive given Yvel’s record in the biggest promotions, but it demonstrates that dos Santos has a good sense of himself and he knows when he completely outclasses an opponent.

I was sad to see Dustin Hazelett lose to Paul Daley so quickly, but he brought it on himself. Hazelett has only ever managed to finish his UFC fights by submission, yet he did not attempt to take Paul Daley down at all. One wonders if he had been training as if he was still going to fight Karo Parisyan. Regardless, it’s a bit of a shame, as that beard of his is spectacular, and it needs merchandising opportunities.

Finally, let’s look at the main event. Rashad Evans edged out a decision against Thiago Silva, and he was in big trouble near the end of the fight. It was the kind of performance that makes you think he’ll probably get another challenge for the title sometime, but he’s unlikely to win it unless he gets to take it from Forrest again. Beating Thiago Silva is impressive, it just needed to be more dominant to really prove that Evans could become a dominant champion in the future. We’ll see how Rashad does against Rampage, I suppose.

Next week we get an Ultimate Fight Night to tide us over until UFC 109 and Strikeforce: Miami. It’s a pretty busy month for MMA if you think about it, but I imagine a lot of it will pass people by due to New Year headaches.

It’s been a busy week for the UFC, with Fight Night on Wednesday now over and UFC 103 set to play out on Saturday, 19 September.

The results of the Fight Night were:

· Nate Diaz beat Melvin Guillard at 2:13 of the second round with a guillotine choke

· Gray Maynard beat Roger Huerta in a split decision using his superior wrestling skills

· Carlos Condit beat Jake Ellenberger in a split decision, despite getting knocked down three times in the first round

· Nate Quarry beat Tim Credeur in a unanimous decision, in a close contest

· Brian Stann beat Steve Cantwell in a unanimous decision

· Mike Pyle beat Chris Wilson at 2:15 of the third round with a guillotine choke

· C.B. Dolloway beat Jay Silva in a unanimous decision

· Jeremy Stephens beat Justin Buchholz at 3:23 of the first round with a cut

· Mike Pierce beat Brock Larson in a unanimous decision

· Ryan Jensen beat Steve Steinbeiss at 3:56 of the first round with a guillotine choke

Decisions and guillotine chokes. It’s really surprising that so many guillotine chokes ended fights. I mean, they’re great when you have an opportunity to use them, but how often does someone give up an opportunity to sink in an effective guillotine choke? Odd.

UFC 103 doesn’t have the kind of fights that would draw in a massive casual audience, but there are some pretty interesting match ups. What follows are a few of my picks for the main card, along with some reasoning.

In the headline event, Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort, BetUS has it -150 Franklin and +120 Belfort. I think Belfort would need longer odds than that to be worth supporting in this fight, and even though it would be better if Franklin’s odds were longer, he’s the fighter to support in this bout. While many have discounted him after his losses to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, it’s unfair to judge him on those performances alone.

Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic is Santos -135 and Cro Cop +105 at BetUS. It’s very frustrating when the lesser-known fighter is the favorite, because the well-known underdog’s odds will tend to be shortened by his fans. I think that’s happened here, and I’d avoid betting on this fight at all. I just can’t see a worthwhile risk in this bout. Cro Cop has a good enough chance of winning, despite dos Santos seeming to have him outmatched in every area. You’d think this would suggest a bet on dos Santos is worthwhile, but Cro Cop just has so much more experience. I think Cro Cop will win, but I don’t think it’s a sure enough thing to bet on him at such short underdog odds.

Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg is -400 Koscheck and +300 Trigg at BetUS. I’d bet on Trigg, as his odds are clearly much longer than they should be. That isn’t to say that I think Trigg has the best chance of winning. I just think that his chances are better than the odds suggest, and that there’s opportunity for a massive upset.

That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll talk about the results of the fights next week, and maybe even a bit about TUF 10.