The internet is awash with articles and blogs about how last weekend’s card becomes a pivotal moment in the future of American Mixed Martial Arts.  Here are the results of those ten July 19, 2008 bouts.  Go ahead and make your own judgement.

    HEAVYWEIGHTS

           1.)    Fedor Emilianenko (28-1, 1 no contest) def. Tim Sylvia (24-5) by a rear naked choke barely 36 seconds on the first round.  Sylvia says Fedor is not human after being subjected to a barrage of punches that saw him on the mat helpless against Fedor’s choke maneuver.

Randy Couture was brought into the ring to play up the tempting possibility of going against Fedor.  Fedor also liked the idea of being pitted against Couture.  A contract dispute with UFC however may not make this next big match to materialize.  Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski are also Emelianenko challengers.

2.)    Andrei Arlovski (13-5) def. Ben Rothwell (29-6) by a knockout at 1:13 on the third round.  Smarting from a sore loss to Tim Sylvia in 2006, Arlovski unleashes power and technique that made the second round of this match the most exciting bout.

Rothwell was a display of iron-clad toughness but was no match to Arlovski’ speed and punching accuracy who trained under Freddie Roach (the same guy behind the speed and accuracy of world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao).

3.)    Josh Barnett (23-5) def. Pedro Rizzo (16-8) with a left hook that knocked out Rizzo at :44 of the second round of an otherwise slow first round.  The crowd’s jeers must have woke Barnett up to unleash a bone-crushing hook on the second round.

Barnett becomes the most logical challenger to Emelianenko.

4.)    Paul Buentello (26-10) def. Gary Goodridge (23-18-1) by unanimous decision.  Goodridge seemed to hurt Buentello’s ribs but the latter landed more devastating punches and knees that sent Goodridge’s nose bleeding.

This appears to be not Buentello’s best game despite his being in control of this match.

FEATHERWEIGHTS

5.)    Mark Hominick (16-8) def. Savant Young (9-8) by submission on the second round.  This was more on the groundwork skills of Hominick while Young tried to counter with strikes.  Young made scores with his punches but Hominick’s armbar locked him to a win by submission.

This bout was another of those slow moments of the event that earned boos from the crowd.  Unlike the original MMA crowd of two years ago, the new set of MMA fans now seem to favour standing matches than ground games.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

6.)     Renato Sobral (30-7) def. Mike Whitehead (20-6) by unanimous decision.  This was one of the most exciting matches of the event.  Sobral showcased his striking and blocking superiority over Whitehead’s toughness that was just enough.

Whitehead’s takedowns and groundwork against Sobral just didn’t deliver.

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

7.)     Matt Lindland (21-5) def Fabio Nascimento (8-4) by unanimous decision.  Lindland was obviously getting the upperhand on the second round with ground and pound.  Bloth gladiators were exhausted by the third round but Lindland showed more aggressiveness with another takedown with more punishing blows.

Lindland’s Olympic-level technical skills in wrestling gave him much edge on a close fight.  When he gets into trouble with Nascimento’s fists, he brings the game to the ground.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

8.)     Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) def. Edwin Dewees (35-13) by referee stoppage 4:06 on the first round.  Nogueira restrained Dewees with a strong Muay Thai clinch and landed six hard knees followed by an exchange of furious punches in one corner.

The referee simply has to stopped the game when Dewees was pummelled with more devastating punches from a more superior Nogueira.

WELTERWEIGHTS

9.)     Mike Pyle (16-5-1) def. J.J. Ambrose (9-2) by submission on the first round.  At 2:51, the match has to be stopped with Pyle locking a rear naked choke after unleashing a barrage of punches on the side of the head of Ambrose who was faced down on the mat.

This quickie one-sided bout gave Pyle two victories in a row.

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

10.)     Vitor Belfort (17-8) def. Terry Martin (16-5) by knockout 3 minutes 12 seconds of the second round.  Martin showed aggressiveness in this bout while Belfort was backpedalling most of the time.  And most of the time that he was backpedalling, he shows better skills by stopping Martin with his jabs.  Most of these landed on Martin’s left eye.

Martin’s attempts at takedown failed, Belfort finished the game with a disabling left-right combination.