After falling one an a half pounds shy of his required 185lb. mark, the dejected Travis Lutter braved a disappointed crowd to show a surprising ease in taking champ Anderson Silva to the ground. Unable to fire off more than a few of his pinpoint kicks and punches, Silva found himself on his back early in the first, tying the challenger up as he bided his time for a submission.

Though he maintained top position for the early minutes of the first, Lutter wasn’t able to do much damage, and was subsequently pushed off by the Nogueira trained Jiu Jitsu black belt. Even after Lutter asserted himself with another takedown, gaining the mount on the champ, he found himself reversed by a stunning leg sweep technique from the bottom as Silva jolted himself upright.

The final stanza came in the second round, when Lutter yet again took Silva down, attempting to pass his guard. After pushing Lutter back with a two-legged upkick, Silva took advantage of Lutter’s lowered head as Lutter hurtled back to guard, whereupon Silva cinched an easy triangle. Unable to squeeze himself out of the hold, Lutter capitulated at 2:11 of the second round, making Silva’s first bout as middleweight champion a successful one.

Making his octagon debut, 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champ Mirko Filipovic walked his way to a sound defeat of NorCal Fighting Alliance heavyweight Eddie Sanchez. From the start, Mirko was the darling of the audience, especially a sizable contingent of Croatian fans who cheered raucously throughout the fight.

Stalking his relatively green foe throughout the ring, the Croatian Sensation proved once again that his left straight is the same highlight reel material as his left high kick. After assaulting Sanchez with a serious of punches, Cro Cop timed a left high kick that bounced off the top of Sanchez’s head, setting the end in motion as Sanchez backpedaled towards the edge of the cage. After another straight left, Sanchez fell to the canvas and was quickly mounted by Cro Cop, who pounded out a TKO stoppage at 4:33 of the first.

Despite having fought for audiences several times greater than the 8,000 plus fans in attendance tonight, Pride/WFA import Quinton Jackson was not hesitant to admit how much his pre-fight hype affected him. "The UFC is doing big things right now," Jackson said. "I’ve never been more nervous before a fight."

Jackson’s nerves definitely showed, as he fought opponent Marvin Eastman tentatively throughout the first, tying the wrestler up often as the two jockeyed for position against the cage. Though it was obvious both fighters had evolved since their last meeting in 2000, their wrestling match confounded the audience, who had been revved up for one of Quinton’s high crotch slams.

Jackson’s most effective new tool proved to be his dirty boxing skills, which he used to punish Eastman as he shot in for a takedown. Unable to get traction on the new canvas, Eastman ate an uppercut/hook combination that rocked him as he charged in with a right elbow. Wobbling back, the first round ended in another clinch.

With a round behind him, Jackson found his cage-legs as he continued to use his dirty boxing skills on an increasingly frustrated Eastman. Finally, Jackson landed a powerful uppercut as Eastman charged in, rocking the Las Vegas based fighter. Eastman sustained three more uppercuts before falling to the mat, his head bouncing violently off the mat. As Eastman turned away from the punishment as Jackson stood over him, Ref John McCarthy called a stop to the bout at 3:49 of the second.

"The Predator" Patrick Cote finally got his wish of a W in the octagon, playing it safe as he out pointed opponent Scott Smith in a Unanimous Decision victory.

Dropping to middleweight, veteran Terry Martin also picked up his first W in the octagon, flattening Jorge Rivera with a punch at 0:14 of the 1st round.

Undefeated WFA import Lyoto Machida also made good on his debut, outclassing the game Sam Hogar to take a unanimous 30-27 decision.

Roger Huerta made quick work of newcomer John Halverson, stopping him at :19 of the first after an ambiguously placed knee put Halverson out.

In the night’s first upset, newcomer Frank Edgar out-hustled undefeated Tyson Griffin, ducking under a bevy of wild hooks to counterpunch his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Dustin Hazelett defeated last minute Diego Saraivia in a Unanimous Decision Victory.

UFC 67 Full Results

• Anderson Silva def. Travis Lutter at 2:11 of R1 by submission (strikes)
• Mirko Filipovic def. Eddie Sanchez at 4:33 of R1 by TKO (strikes)
• Roger Huerta def. John Halverson at 0:19 of R1 by TKO (strikes)
• Quinton Jackson def. Marvin Eastman at 3:49 of R2 by KO (punches)
• Patrick Cote def. Scott Smith at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision
• Terry Martin def. Jorge Rivera at :14 of R1 by KO (punches)
• Frank Edgar def. Tyson Griffin at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision
• Ryoto Machida def. Sam Hoger at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous Decision
• Dustin Hazelett def. Diego Saravia at 5:00 of R3 by unanimous decision

Good

(February 3rd, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City) It may have been chaotic behind the scenes, but at tonight’s "World’s Best Fighter" event at Boardwalk Hall, the action in the ring more than made up for it. With matchmaker Ed Hsu’s card pitting some of New Jersey’s best against representatives from South Korean, China and Japan, the evening’s "Team USA versus Team Asia" motif steadily became "Team USA beating the crap out of Team Asia". Yes folks, aside from two impressive KOs in the San Da bouts, it was a veritable MMA trouncing. Highlights of the night included:

• Team Tiger Schulmann’s Lyman Good, who utilized precision striking to put the game Julio Cruz on queer street and keep him there until the ref stepped in.
• The spirited submission battle waged by Kevin Roddy and Jong Man Kim. Kim had some fantastic grappling, but Roddy was always a step ahead, and had Kim tapping before the end of the first round.
• Greg Soto’s one-side beatdown over Hyun Kyu Lim. From takedown to hellacious elbows to armbar, this bout was all Soto.

Massenzio sprawling on Masakatsu

MMA
Justin Eilers (Team USA-237lbs) vs. Ji Hoon Kim (Team Asia-245lbs)
Eilers via tap out due to strikes at 2:10 of R1

Mike Massenzio (Team USA-188lbs) vs. Okuda Masakatsu (Team Asia-185lbs)
Massenzio via unanimous decision.

Greg Soto (Team USA-169lbs) vs. Hyun Kyu Lim (Team Asia-169lbs)
Soto via armbar at 0:58 of R1

Kevin Roddy (Team USA-154lbs) vs. Jong Man Kim (Team Asia-154lbs)
Roddy via armbar at 4:57 of R1.

Brendan Barrett (Team Ronin-204lbs) vs. John Doyle (MFS/Daddis-206lbs)
No Contest due to doctor stoppage – Doyle fell out of ring.

Lyman Good (Team Tiger Schulmann-174lbs) vs. Julio Cruz (Team Renzo-174lbs)
Good via ref stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 0:29 of R2.

Kim in Roddy’s guard

David Cummings (Team USA-152lbs) vs. Dai Shuang Hai (Team Asia-157lbs)
Hai via KO at 1:08 of R1

Valimaki

The Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, hosted the Maximum Fighting Championship’s 11th installment tonight, coined "Gridiron," due to the fact two of the cities local professional football players, Mike Maurer and Adam Braidwood, were scheduled to compete. Although a wide array of local and national media were in attendance to report on tonight’s fights involving the two Edmonton Eskimo players, it was the cards main event that featured MFC Lightheavyweight Champion Victor Valimaki and the up and coming Jared Kilkenny, which offered the evening’s most compelling MMA action.

The Canadian Martial Arts Centre fighter Kilkenny has created quite a stir across Western Canada recently, having gone 8-1 to begin his MMA career, with all of the young fighter’s wins coming way of strikes. For Valimaki, a title defense tonight would go a long way in securing another UFC appearance, after the Pro Camp fighter recently dropped a close split decision to David Heath at UFC Fight Night 8 on December 13th.

From the onset of the bell, it became clear that Valimaki was well aware of his opponent’s reputation for striking, as the Lightheavyweight champion quickly took the much taller Kilkenny to the mat. From there it appeared that Valimaki might end the fight early, quickly taking Kilkenny’s back in search of a rear naked choke. Kilkenny defended the submission attempt successfully and eventually worked his way around to face Valimaki from within his guard. As Kilkenny tried to free his arms to reign down blows, Valimaki transitioned into an armbar attempt, forcing Kilkenny to roll in order to avoid the fight ending submission. The CMAC fighter was able to free himself from Valimaki’s grasp and began blasting in right hands to Valimaki’s head from behind, and for several seconds, it appeared that an upset was definitely in the making. Showing tremendous heart and resiliency, a stunned Valimaki staggered back to his feet, as Kilkenny, now appearing quite fatigued from his vicious attack seconds earlier, paused to catch his breath.

Valimaki, still appearing dazed and fatigued in his own right, caught Kilkenny with a hard right hand that wobbled the challenger, and a follow up jab and right cross from the Champion, sent Kilkenny crashing to the mat. At 3:26 of the first round the referee jumped into save the fallen fighter from any more punishment, giving Valimaki his first title defense.

"April UFC guys," says Valimaki, whose record now stands at 9-3. "I might be back, so keep your eyes open for it."

The two other "super-fights" of the evening included the aforementioned Edmonton Eskimo football players, Mike Maurer and Adam Braidwood. Maurer was facing the highly regarded up and comer Roger Hollett, who quickly silenced the Edmonton crowd when he blasted Maurer with a left high kick to the full-backs head, and followed it up with a crushing left hook, to give the Nova Scotia fighter the knockout win in just 36 seconds. The linemen Braidwood faired much better in his MMA debut, stopping Ryan Jimmo with strikes at 1:54 of Round one.

Here are the rest of tonight’s results for the MFC "Gridiron" card:

• Josh Kryrejto submitted Paul Ebejer with a guillotine choke R1 0:21
• Kyle Ayotte defeated Mike Bell with a rear naked choke R1 2:12
• Ryan Machan over Tim Blanchard by TKO stoppage R1 2:01
• Sean Locke submitted Dan Chambers with a side choke R1 4:50
• Ryan McGillivray tapped out Aaron Gallant with an armbar R1 2:45
• Matt Dutkowski worked his way to a split decision victory over Nigel Zettergreen
• Steve Bruno defeated Graydon Tannas with a first round rear-naked choke