'UFC 85: Bedlam,' Is In The Books

The lowdown, from London's (sold-out) O2 Arena:

Fabricio Werdum defeated Brandon Vera - TKO @ 4:40 (round 1). Vera was mounted and Werdum was throwing a lot of punches, but Vera was defending and was just fine. Referee Dan Miragliotta, however, felt otherwise, and called a stop to the bout. Needless to say, the fans weren't happy, Vera wasn't happy, and Miragliotta is officially the world's worst referee. Yeah, he's under pressure, because of the Kimbo flack, but I don't give a fuck. Just a pathetic display. Vera, in his post-fight interview, managed to salvage the situation by repeatedly using cuss words.

Nate Marquardt defeated Thales Leites - Split decision (28-27, 28-27, 28-27). In the second, Marquardt lost a point, for an illegal knee. Marquardt responded to that by going on a fucking rampage, busting up Leites' face and later using a piledriver. Just when I was about to credit Herb Dean's handling of the knee, he turns around and takes another point from Marquardt, this time for striking the back of the head (even though it was the side) and for ignoring the illegality of the piledriver. Without the point deductions (especially the unnecessary one), this was Marquardt's fight.

Luiz Cane defeated Jason Lambert - TKO @ 2:07 (round 1). This was a dark match, with Cane using punches to just destroy Lambert (who still hasn't learned how to keep his hands up), prompting Dean to end it. No controversy, as Lambert was so out of it, he attempted a takedown on Dean.

Mike Swick defeated Marcus Davis - Unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27). This crowd came to see a standup war and Davis win. On both counts, it sucked to be them. Davis was game (I'm especially impressed with his guard), but Swick was all over him, not really allowing Davis to get off. In the third, Swick lost a point (for grabbing the fence), but it was still clearly his fight. By the time it was over, Davis's face was a mess. Last night, Swick literally got his head caught in a subway (the train, not the eatery), and in September, Swick is getting married (congrats, buddy).

Michael Bisping defeated Jason Day - TKO @ 3:42 (round 1). This time, the crowd got what they wanted, which was a Bisping win and a mauling. Brutal ground-and-pounding, until Miragliotta was forced to step in. The call, by the way, was entirely correct, proving that there is a first time for everything. After the fight, Bisping asked Guy Ritchie (in attendance, and apparently Madonna's husband and an actor) for a job. I hate him.

Someone was awarded BSN's 'Turn of the Night' (whatever the hell that is), but I wasn't paying attention.

Matt Hughes defeated Thiago "Kurt Angle" Alves - TKO @ 1:02 (round 2). This pretty much went as expected, with Hughes working to get and keep it on the mat, where he wasn't able to do much. Alves, on the other hand, used his power and youthful aggression to batter Hughes. Hughes ended up taking a knee to the face (hurting him and causing him to injure his own left knee), prompting referee Dean to stop it. After the fight, Alves blamed his inability to cut weight on an injured ankle, and asked to face Georges St. Pierre. I definitely don't agree with the "Matt Hughes is washed-up" theory, but this was definitely a big win for Alves. Hughes (and his wife) still wants Matt Serra, and he was later shown getting stitches in his nose.

In other dark matches

Matt Wiman defeated Thiago Tavares - KO @ 1:57 (round 2). Wiman was able to weather numerous submission attempts (and, in the second, quite a punch). In the end, Wiman was able to corner Tavares and use a series of punches to drop him. Okay, I'm finally impressed. From his post-fight interview, Wiman seems to have climbed some significant personal hurdles, and (in what seems to be becoming a trend) is about one-week away from getting married.

Martin Kampmann defeated Jorge Rivera - Submission (guillotine choke) @ 2:44 (round 1). Not much on the feet, as Kampmann quickly secured a takedown, and (after a little struggle) the choke, causing Rivera to tap.

Antoni Hardonk defeated Eddie Sanchez - TKO @ 4:15 (round 2). This wasn't shown.

Paul Taylor defeated Jess Liaudin - Split decision. This wasn't shown.

Kevin Burns defeated Roan Carneiro - Submission (triangle choke) @ 3:50 (round 2).. This wasn't shown, but did earn Burns Tapout's 'Submission of the Night.'

My take: Frosted Lucky Charms - They're magically delicious! In other words, jolly good show, mates.