After UFC 77, it’s not just a forgone conclusion to me, it’s a fact everyone needs to latch on to: the lightweights are the structure that builds a UFC card – the best matches on the show.

UFC 76 and UFC 77 both saw $40,000 Fight of the Night bonuses go to the 155 pound fighters as they battled for two close decision wins in the octagon. Other weight classes have their highlights, but it’s the smaller guys that seem to be getting the crowds excited, and exhibited the most hotly contested matches.

During UFC 76, Tyson Griffin and Thiago Tavares proved to be one of the more stimulating fights on live television lately as both men battled back and forth on their feet and on the mat for the full 15 minutes. During the ensuing battle, there were flying knees, omoplatas, and judo throws. The stand up was there. The ground game was in play. Hold-reversal-counterhold-countermove. Griffin took the win and Tavares racked up his first loss. If I wanted to hook someone on MMA, this might be one of the newer fights I would show them. Griffin and Tavares were able to capture the $40,000 fight bonus for showing everyone that they were both fighters to watch in the future.

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After more years then most of us have been fans, I guess we found out Monday who plays the game at the level of Dana White. Maybe Monte Cox. Perhaps I say “maybe” because he’s about to lose a lot of someone else’s money with a start-up promotion very shortly. But that qualifier out of the way, the man who follows Dana’s manager to executive path to the big time only has to come in under 40 Million dollars before he turns a profit to be the new kid dynamite. The real trick is still being around at 30 million in the red. Read the full story

Look, we all know we’re sick of reading and writing Couture/Dana break up story blogs just as much as we all can’t stop reading or writing them. It’s like compulsive eating: you know it’s wrong, it’s become a job you might not even enjoy, and yet you can’t stop doing it. Who am I to be any different with my commentary? I could write another open letter to Dana-style article, but after so many in the last two weeks, boy did Greg Doyel really put a dagger in that concept. Ouch!

I would like to point out that for the two people who haven’t heard, Randy Couture’s gonna be all over the place Thursday afternoon. Couture - ah heck, to me he’s just Randy - is gonna be having a press conference. Everyone’s favorite middle-aged man is gonna be eloquently discussing with every media person ever to write a blog his future, Dana White, his contract, Dana White, Fedor and M-1, and um…did I mention Dana White.

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I’ll admit that I was expecting two hours of boring and cheesy TUF commentary on Spike TV last night. That is until I saw a bruised Forrest Griffin and and his TUF co-pilot Stephan Bonnar as the shows’ two co-hosts. This should be a good time for all. We have the two goofiest light heavyweights in the organization discussing the best moments in the show that they helped to propel into the mainstream. We’ll talk more about their role in the history of TUF on the second part of this article. On to the Top 25!

25: Season 1 - Chris “The Crippler” Leben decides he is going to get drunk enough to urinate all over another bed. He heartedly calls it a “spritz” and makes sure that it’s rubbed into the sheets before the victim returns to his bed.

24: Season 4 - Shonie Carter wants to train with the other team and jumps into their van uninvited. He proceeds to drop the F bomb about 27 times mostly in the phrase “I don’t give a fuck” for apparently no reason. Mr. International shows how us to be dumb on television.

23: Season 4 - Mikey Burnett thinks he is a football player and runs into a wall of the TUF house repeatedly. Awesome! Sorta. I guess…

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First, the face of UFC’s marketing juggernaut, Chuck Liddell, gets handed a loss for the second time by Rampage Jackson. I hear whispers of retirement from the minute the blogs can write up the show. A summer passes, and many mock the legitimacy of a Liddell-Jardine main event. After all, they’re both “losers”, and maybe Chuck should retire. And besides all that Jardine mess, what people really wanna see is the past it’s drawing prime Liddell-Silva match. Finally. I agree, that’s the match to see even four years later, but Jardine knocks out the Iceman.

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