UFC 82: Pride of a Champion Results

Preliminary Fights
Jorge Gurgel defeats John Halverson via unanimous decision
Diego Sanchez submits (strikes) David Bielkheden round 1
Josh Koscheck defeats Dustin Hazelett via TKO (strikes) round 2
Luigi Fiorvanti defeats Luke Cummo via unanimous decision
Andre Arlovski defeats Jake O’Brien via TKO (strikes) round 2
Main Card
Jon Fitch over Chris Wilson via unanimous decision
Yushin Okami knocked out (knee) Evan Tanner round 2
Chris Leben defeats Alessio Sakara via TKO round 1
Heath Herring defeats Cheick Kongo by split decision
Anderson Silva submits (choke) Dan Henderson round 2
Results from fiveouncesofpain.com

UFC bonuses (60K)
Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva vs Dan Henderson
Knockout of the night: Chris Leban
Submission of the night: Anderson Silva

UFC 82 fighter pay-outs
Anderson Silva - $140,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 to win)
Dan Henderson - $100,000
Heath Herring - $140,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 to win)
Cheick Kongo - $30,000
Chris Leben - $50,000 ( $25,000 to show, $25,000 to win)
Alessio Sakara - $17,000
Yushin Okami - $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 to win)
Evan Tanner - $25,000
Jon Fitch - $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Chris Wilson - $12,000
Andrei Arlovski - $170,000 ($105,000 to show, $65,000 to win)
Jake O’Brien - $11,000
Luigi Fioravanti - $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Luke Cummo - $16,000
Josh Koscheck - $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Dustin Hazelett - $12,000
Diego Sanchez - $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
David Bielkheden - $8,000
Jorge Gurgel - $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
John Halverson - $3,000

Miscellaneous
Mark Coleman inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

Closing Thoughts
1) The crowd was horrible. If there was two seconds of inactivity they would boo. This crowd wasn't as enthusiastic as the one that showed up for UFC 62. Especially during the Randy Couture and Tim Syliva fight in which Randy controlled Tim on the ground for the better part of five rounds.

2)UFC like any other business is trying to make as much money as possible. Not only do they increase ppv prices by five dollars but they don't show as many fights as they can. They are hoping that fans will run to their computer to purchase the unaired fights from the UFC homepage. To accomplish this the ppv telecast moves at a very slow pace. I don't need to see a commercial about the fights that are happening later on. They do not need to show all the entrances especially for the early fights. Many times in Pride Fighting Championships they would show only the last entrance. So instead of asking us to wear a brand of watch or ride a Harley perhaps they can satiate our thirst for more combat.

3)Anderson Silva has not cleaned out the division entirely. Many people have opined that with this dominating victory over Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva has no one left to fight. This is incorrect. They're are many more fights for Silva at 185 lbs. First he should fight Okami to avenge his defeat by disqualification. This should be an easy win but you never know. Next he should face Matt Hughes. The only thing in the way is a possible match up with Matt Serra. If Serra beats George St. Pierre, Hughes gets the first crack at him. He also has potential opponents if his former Chute Boxe partners Mauricio Rua and Wanderlei Silva drop a weight class. Wanderlei can hang at light heavyweight because he still has power but Shogun is too light to match up with the UFC 205ers. Mauricio would make an interesting opponent for Anderson.

4)UFC announces that Brock Lesnar will face Mark Coleman. The same people who said that Lesnar wold destroy Mir are predicting that he might pound Coleman into dust. Brock Lesnar could get the victory but it wont be an easy one. Lesnar has the strength, athleticism and explosiveness but what he doesn't have is experience. That's what Frank Mir used to get the win over Brock.