The Charge

UFC's number one son gets his first shot at the gold.

Opening Statement

Welcome to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada! Tonight, July 8, 2008, the Ultimate Fighting Championship brings to you a very special night of fights. In the main event, after weeks of competing against each other as coaches in The Ultimate Fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson takes on the first ever winner of the television show, underdog Forrest Griffin, for the Light Heavyweight Championship. But first, we have a full night of events to present. Let's have a look:

First, in contests not part of the original Pay Per View broadcast:

Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz (Lightweights): Our first bout is an exciting one, with Hill, by far the tallest man in the division at 6'4," a giant next to Buchholz, but Hill's size doesn't scare him. This would have been fight of the night had it been on the broadcast. Exciting back and forth action from start to finish.

Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver (Lightweights): One of the fastest fights you'll ever see. One man is looking at the lights faster than you can say "Let's get it on!" From the original PPV broadcast, this is the one fight that wound up on the show as post-Main Event filler for its obviously brief reasons.

Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller (Lightweights): Gurgel, B.J. Penn's training partner, always goes all-out to entertain the crowd, whether he's on the broadcast or not. This is no exception, with Miller as a good opponent for the highly skilled, underutilized, Lightweight.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCulley (Heavyweights): Gonzaga, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom who kicked Mirko Cro-Crop and beat him at his own game, took something of a downturn after his breakthrough fight. I was surprised to see this on the pre-PPV card, but I'm glad to witness it. Gonzaga is a good fighter and McCulley is a game, if overmatched, opponent.

Now, on the main card:

Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio (Lightweights): Opening up the Pay-Per-View broadcast, these two Lightweights are considerably more fireplug-ish than those previous fighters. This is highly skilled BJJ versus highly skilled wrestling. This is always a considerable matchup and these fighters put it on the line.

Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle (Welterweights): Koscheck takes a lot of heat from crowds, and he brings it on himself, but he really does fight his heart out. It isn't fight of the night, but both work hard to entertain the crowd, who find it necessary to boo Koscheck anyway. As I said, he brings it on himself.

Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau (Lightweights): These two considerable BJJ practitioners step into the Octagon for a highly tactical, yet still exciting bout. Don't blink: the finish comes out of nowhere.

Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida (Middleweights): Cote and Almeida are both great fighters, and this bout has its moments, but it's the dog of the show. For excitement, Koscheck vs. Lyttle should have been before the main event, but they obviously can't predict that. If this is the worst your show has to offer, however, you're doing pretty good.

And finally, in our main event:

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (Light Heavyweights): The main event starts off fast with quality striking and a minimum of ground work. This is an exciting fight that shows off some of the skills that both men possess that aren't often needed for them to win. Both are tough guys and class acts. I'd love to see a rematch of this fight.

Many complained about the main event, but I found it an intriguing and unexpected fight. Overall, Dana White and the UFC put on one of their best shows of the year, with plenty of fast-paced Lightweight action and only one bout that I considered at all boring. The Vegas crowd was pumped for the fights, the company built well toward the main even and, even if it didn't come off quite as exciting as promised, I'm certain White was thrilled with the result.

The widescreen image looks as good as the original PPV broadcast, as does the sound. The extras comprise the entirety of the second disc and, in a complete waste of a DVD, we have a few minutes of behind the scenes footage, the weigh-ins, and the countdown show to the broadcast. People are going to buy this for the fights and, as much as any show so far this year, UFC 86 delivers the goods.

Not guilty.

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