The UFC was in Columbus for the second time in about a year Saturday night for UFC 82: Pride of a Champion. From top to bottom, the fight card was one of the best put together in a while by UFC President, Dana White. The fights that appeared on the PPV, for the most part, lived up to the build-up of the strength of the fight card. There were some surprises, a much awaited return of a particular fighter and a "major" announcement that wasn't exactly what UFC fans were expecting or thinking was going to be announced. More on that later. Let's get to the results.

PPV CARD RESULTS
Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson via Rear-Naked Choke at 4:52 in the 2nd round.
Henderson was thought to possibly be the last fighter in the middleweight division that could stop Silva from his dominance. So much for that. The first round belonged to Henderson as he took Silva to the ground and worked him over a little. Both fighters exchanged blows throughout the first and second round, but neither could truly get a clear cut advantage. That was until the second round was about to end. Silva got the advantage on the ground and took Henderson's back. He was able to slip in a rear-naked choke with about 25 seconds left or so. It looked like Henderson was going to hold on and get out of the round, but with eight seconds left he tapped, much to the surprise of myself and those I was watching the PPV with. It wasn't a typical Silva fight as he didn't get Henderson in the clinch as much as we're used to seeing from him. Instead we were treated to Silva's ground game and the only submission of the PPV card. With the win, Silva unified the UFC and PRIDE middleweight titles. In the post-fight interview, he surprised a lot of people when he said that his toughest opponent has been Rich Franklin. Was he being honest or looking for a cheap pop from the Ohio crowd (Franklin is from Cincinnati)? Hard to tell considering we had to wait for his translator to tell us what he said. Plus Silva dominated Franklin both times he beat Franklin. So who knows. One thing is for sure, Silva proved again that he can and will be all comers and he is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the UFC, if not all of MMA.

Heath Herring defeated Cheick Kongo via Split Decision.
A battle to possibly decide who will be the number one contender to the heavyweight title, currently held by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, didn't quite go the way viewers expected. In fact, it didn't go the way Herring thought it would either. Both fighters are known more for their stand-up and how hard they can throw blows. While it started out looking like it might go that way with Herring landing a quick shot to Kongo which stunned him, the fight mostly took place on the ground. Herring avoided getting hit by Kongo by keeping him down and taking him out of his element. His ability to keep Kongo down and hit him with knees to the shoulders and body, Kongo looked like he didn't know what to do. Ultimately, Herring did enough to convince two of the judges to give the nod his way.

Chris Leben defeated Alessio Sakara via TKO (strikes) at 3:36 in the 1st round.
Had the Silva vs. Henderson fight not been on this card, this could have been considered for fight of the night for the PPV audience. While it was over in the first round, both fighters traded blows from the jump. The difference was that Leben caught Sakara with a knee to the head followed by a left hook that saw Sakara go limp down to the mat. Leben jumped on the opening and pounded Sakara until the ref jumped in and stopped the fight. The fight may have been over pretty quickly, but there were fireworks from start to finish. My vote for the most exciting fight of the night goes here.

Yushin Okami defeated Evan Tanner by KO (knee) at 3:00 in the 2nd round.
This was Tanner's first fight in two years and it couldn't have gone any worse for him. The 37-year old fighter was signed back in November to a new four-fight deal. Until now, nobody would agree to take on Tanner for whatever reason. That was until Okami, an up-and-coming fighter in the middleweight division, accepted the fight. Tanner probably wished he hadn't now. The first round went back and forth, neither fighter gaining a clear advantage. The second round belonged to Okami. He started working from the clinch and ended up catching Tanner with a knee to the head. Tanner fell quickly to the mat and the ref stopped the fight. A triumphant return for Tanner was not to be. With the win, Okami ran his record in the UFC to 6-1 and now could be the next fighter in line to take on Silva for the middleweight title.

Jon Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by Unanimous Decision.
This was supposed to be an "easy" fight for Fitch. He's been on a role lately and has slowly started to become a crowd favorite. Wilson proved to be a tougher opponent than anyone thought he would be for Fitch. I was honestly expecting Fitch to knockout Wilson in the first round. When it went to the third round I was both shocked and impressed with Wilson. In the end Fitch was able to score the unanimous decision victory and keep his undefeated record (8-0) in the UFC in tact. The win could put Fitch in line for a welterweight title shot, possibly taking on the winner of the Matt Serra vs. Georges St-Pierre fight next month. Should that be the case, a title reign for Serra or GSP could be short lived.

PRELIM RAPID RESULTS
Andrei Arlovski defeated Jake O'Brien by TKO (strikes) at 4:17 in the 2nd round.
Luigi Fioravanti defeated Luke Cummo by Unanimous Decision.
Josh Koscheck defeated Dustin Hazelett by TKO (strikes) at 1:24 in the 2nd round.
Diego Sanchez defeated David Bielkheden by Submission (strikes) at 4:42 in the 1st round.
Jorge Gurgel defeated John Halverson by Unanimous Decision.

PPV Prediction Results: 9-1 (overall 52-33)

The "major" announcement of the night came after former UFC heavyweight champion, Mark Coleman, was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The UFC's first ever heavyweight champion told the audience that he wasn't retired and wanted to make a comeback in the Octagon. He informed everyone that Dana White has granted him just that and Coleman's return will take place in August when he takes on UFC newcomer, Brock Lesnar. This wasn't the announcement I, or many others I'm sure, were expecting to hear. Most were expecting White to announce that the UFC had reached a TV deal with a major network. The reason for this was because just a couple days ago another MMA brand, EliteXC, announced that they had reached a TV deal with CBS. The Coleman announcement didn't get me all excited or make me feel all tingly inside. Its been quite a long time since Coleman has fought and Lesnar is wanting to prove he's not just a big name. I expect Lesnar to destroy Coleman to be completely honest.

Next up for the UFC is their Fight Night event on April 2nd on Spike TV. The main event that night will be Kenny Florian taking on Joe Lauzon. A little more than two weeks later on April 19th, the UFC crosses the US border into Canada for Serra vs. St-Pierre 2. That night we'll see the welterweight title unified when Matt Serra and Georges St-Pierre square off again.