Then there was also this other highly anticipated fight from two guys with pretty decent resumes. You may have heard of them.

Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. So how did it all go down? Check out the review Submit To MMA style.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva : In fights of this magnitude, the first round can be excruciating for fans. Such was the case with this one. Every punch, every kick, you felt in your seat at home or at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Wanderlei Silva landed some decent low kicks in the initial stanza; Chuck Liddell countered with some hard punches, one of which may have hurt Silva. There was even a point in the first when Liddell seemed to have hurt the former PRIDE Champion only to find out that he may have been bated into an exchange. Still, the round went to Liddell.

The second round, considering the stakes, was one of those that will be remembered in the annals of mixed martial arts history. Silva landed several flurries inside on The Iceman. In fact, the majority of the round went down like that. But toward the end of the stanza, Chuck Liddell connected with some hard shots, one of which cut Wanderlei. Silva didn’t back down one iota, however, throwing down as hard as he could on the former UFC Champion. Back and forth, forth and back the action went.

At the end of the round, surprisingly, Liddell was on top of Silva on the canvas. That said, Silva seemed to do enough to win the round.

Tie game going into the finale.

Liddell started the third round by taking Silva down. That’s right: Chuck Liddell took Wanderlei Silva down. Still, Silva got up quickly though he might’ve been better off on the ground looking for a submission as later in the round Liddell landed a spinning backfist that hurt him. The Iceman followed things up with several more hard strikes up against the Octagon wall. Though the two were exhausted, Liddell landed some more big shots later in the round and secured another takedown—that’s right, we said takedown—for good measure.

In sum, the third round put Chuck Liddell back on the map in the light heavyweight division. Though both fighters showed great heart and determination, there could be only one winner.

Chuck Liddell via unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva. It wasn’t the stunning knockout finish that most had expected, but it was a lot of fun.

MOST DOMINANT VICTORY

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre : Yes, Rich Clementi did dominate Melvin Guillard. Sure, Lyoto Machida had his way with Sokoudjou. That said, when you win convincingly over Matt Hughes, in my opinion one of the greatest mixed martial artists if not the greatest mixed martial artist of all- time, that gets you several more style points. Here are the words uttered by Georges St. Pierre that rang true in this encounter. “It’s going to be all about business, and I’m going to do my job and my job is gonna be to destroy my opponent.” Hughes entered the fight in a southpaw stance, presumably to have his strong hand—his right hand—forward so as to help with takedown attempts. A smart move, but it failed rather early when St. Pierre stuffed a takedown attempt by the man from Illinois and took him down instead. From there Georges St. Pierre continually bettered his position while offering up some strong ground and pound. Toward the end of the stanza, the Canadian fighter had achieved the mount position and was slamming Hughes’s head into the canvas. He even took his back and nearly sunk in an armbar before the bell.

The second round was much of the same. St. Pierre took Hughes down. He eventually bettered his position. The long and the short of it?

Georges St. Pierre eventually gained the mount position. Though Matt Hughes got to his feet and nearly secured a takedown of his own, the positive occurrence was short lived.

St. Pierre swept him to the canvas rather viciously straight into side control. From there he transitioned to an armbar, forcing Matt Hughes to submit verbally.

Thus, St. Pierre was the winner via armbar at 4:54 of the second round. Deservedly, he was now the interim champion. Afterward, Hughes was gracious in defeat. St. Pierre, on the other hand, indicated that he didn’t really feel he deserved a belt until he defeated Matt Serra.

STATEMENT OF THE NIGHT

Lyoto Machida vs. Ramieau Thierry Sokoudjou : This fight nearly went two rounds. We could go over the entire thing here at Submit To MMA, but decided not to as it could be summed up rather quickly.

Lyoto Machida was the more proficient striker. He was by far the better grappler, ending up working over the Judo black belt from the top position for a good portion of the fight. And eventually that translated into an arm triangle.

Machida won via arm triangle at 4:20 of the second round. Beforehand, Machida had said the following. “This being my fourth victory after tonight, I believe that I’m ready for a title shot. I want the belt.”

It’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve a shot at the belt at this point, no?

THE REST

Georges St-Pierre defeats Matt Hughes by Armbar at 1:54 of round two

Chuck Liddell defeats Wanderlei Silva by Unanimous Decision

Eddie Sanchez defeats Soa Palelei by TKO at 3:24 of round three

Lyoto Machida defeats Sokoudjou by Arm Triangle Choke at 4:20 of round two

Rich Clementi defeats Melvin Guillard by Rear Naked Choke at 4:40 of round one

James Irvin defeats Luis Cane by Disqualification (Illegal Strike to Downed Opponent) at 1:51 of round one

Manny Gamburyan defeats Nate Mohr by Ankle Lock at 1:31 of round one

Dean Lister defeats Jordan Radev by Unanimous Decision

Roan Carneiro defeats Tony DeSouza by TKO at 3:33 of round two

Mark Bocek defeats Doug Evans by Unanimous Decision