ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Pierce has reached that defining moment in his relationship with Joe Silva, matchmaker for the UFC.

Apparently, wins (Pierce has nine in the UFC) haven’t caught Silva’s attention. Neither have finishes (two in his last three fights). It’s time to try beer.

“Maybe I need to get a big pitcher of beer for Joe and sit down and hash this out,” Pierce told ESPN.com. “No, it’s just one of those things where I have to keep doing what I’m doing until they can’t ignore me anymore.”

Pierce (17-5), who faces Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 29 next week in Sao Paulo, Brail, wants a fight that matters. The kind of fight that breaks you into the Top 10.

He holds a lifetime UFC record of 9-3. All three losses were by close decision to highly ranked opponents. The split decision loss to Josh Koscheck in February 2012? Pierce says he “clearly” won that.

Following his last victory, a TKO finish over David Mitchell in the second round at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, a photo was taken of Pierce smiling toward Silva, with his hands at his sides turned upward, like -- Hey Joe, can I get a big fight now?

What he got was Palhares (14-5), who is on a 2-fight losing streak and dropping to welterweight for the first time. Pierce, meanwhile, has won four in a row.

How does Pierce, 33, feel about this matchup leading into the fight? ESPN.com asked him, among other things.

ESPN: What was your first reaction to hearing you were fighting Palhares?

Pierce: I thought it was kind of funny because if you look back on my career, there have been a lot of guys the UFC has thrown at me where it was their last chance at doing something. If they didn’t do something, they either got released or would drop a weight class or something. It’s kind of like another one of those situations. He’s lost twice in a row and is dropping to 170. I’ve dealt with guys before who have dropped from 185 and it didn’t go their way.

ESPN: Why do you think the UFC likes to book you against that type of opponent?

Pierce: Man, your guess is as good as mine. I’ve done some things in the sport. I’ve beat some tough guys and I’ve had real close calls with some guys that are fighting for the title real soon. It does blow my mind as to why. I can’t quite answer or fully understand it.

ESPN: That kind of matchmaking starting to bother you?

Pierce: Of course, I’m p---ed off. I want to start getting those main card fights against notable guys. Palhares has fought some tough guys. He’s got a little bit of credence to his name but I want to start working my up. This guy is coming off two losses and I’m on a 4-fight win streak. Typically, they don’t match up guys like that.

ESPN: Have you complained to the UFC about it?

Pierce: I haven’t had too much interaction with Joe Silva. I’ve had brief words with him. He’s not a huge fan of most people who smash guys up against the fence and grind on them, hit them on the side, that sort of stuff -- which, I get. That’s not exciting. He’s like, “I don’t care if it’s a submission, a TKO or a knockout. Look for finishes.” I get that, but it’s hard to do that sometimes when a guy is fresh or you have two skilled fighters. It’s hard to catch them sleeping. And I have had two good finishes in my last three fights.

ESPN: What are your thoughts on Palhares’ style? He has a history of going real deep on submission attempts in the Octagon.

Pierce: Well yeah, there was that one clear, obvious one where he held it when the referee told him to let go and he got fined by a commission (UFC 111). Then recently, he tested positive for elevated testosterone levels (UFC on FX 6), so this guy is definitely a cheat. There’s no surprise. He’ll do anything to win because he’s either desperate or an (a------). I’m not too concerned about that. I come in expecting he’s going to be mean, try to be a bully, try to cheat -- I have to deal with it.

ESPN: The tag “underrated” has started to follow you. You agree with it?

Pierce: Whenever the media does mention me it’s always as, “the most underrated welterweight.” I thoroughly agree with that. I think for whatever reason, people overlook me, but I don’t think the fighters do. I think the fighters in the welterweight division think, ‘That’s not really a guy I want to fight.’

ESPN: You’ve had close losses to Johny Hendricks and Koscheck. You ever think about those? Like, if one judge had seen it different, your entire career changes?

Pierce: I only think about them when guys interview me and bring it up. No, I think about it from time to time. Had things gone my way, of course things would be a little different but that’s how it goes when you have judges who don’t see what everybody else sees. Especially with the Koscheck fight -- I clearly won that fight. I won it on paper. I won it visually to everybody watching except for the judges it seems like. At the end of the day, those three judges get to make that decision and they didn’t do a good job that night I believe -- but you’ve got to look forward.

This time around, former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard promises there will be no excuses.

After losing a split decision to Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut on July 21, Lombard said that he had suffered a fractured sternum while preparing for the bout.

No one knows for sure how much the injury hindered Lombard's performance that night, but he did not exhibit the explosive punching power or aggression that helped him put together a 25-fight win streak.

But when Lombard (31-3-1, 1 NC) makes his second appearance inside the Octagon, this time against Rousimar Palhares, he won't have any physical ailments and plans to give UFC fans something to remember.

Lombard and Palhares meet Friday night (FX, 9 p.m. ET) in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

"I'm going to be good for this fight -- fully healthy," Lombard told ESPN.com. "I'm going to win this fight by knockout. There will be no excuses.

"I want to be the best and I have to start with this fight. I have to get my win streak back."

Lombard also stressed the importance of impressing his UFC bosses. His fight with Boetsch is one everybody would like to forget.

The bout lacked excitement as neither fighter showed a willingness take chances on offense. And with Lombard entering the UFC to tons of hype, he believes it's time to prove to UFC decision-makers that signing him to a multi-fight contract was a solid investment.

Lombard does not want to risk being released by the promotion.

"This fight is important because I want to keep my job and UFC is the place I want to be for a long time," Lombard said. "I don't want to go anywhere else."

As for his opponent, Lombard is aware of Palhares' submission skills but he isn't showing any sign of worry.

"I have to keep my eye on his ground game," Lombard said. "Besides that there isn't any other part of his game that I have to be concerned about. I will be in the cage with a guy not many people want to fight. This is an opportunity to show UFC fans what I'm all about."

Lombard's confidence is likely bolstered by Palhares' recent showing inside the Octagon.

Despite holding a record of 14-4, Palhares was knocked out in the first round in each of his last two defeats, including his most recent fight against Alan Belcher in May.

Seventeen of Lombard's wins have come via knockout.

Mixed martial arts is filled to the brim with great stories. Not the least of which is the amazing tale of the sport itself.

During the course of this fight week, UFC’s third on network TV, we were often reminded of two of its most harrowing: Lavar Johnson taking three bullets in a drive-by and Alan Belcher's battle with blindness.

When it comes to opportunities, Johnson and Belcher have to rank among the UFC's most grateful combatants.

With Johnson, it's easy to grasp why. He was the victim of horrific street violence that left his life (never mind his career as a heavyweight fighter) in peril. To survive and rebuild must have been empowering, which you can see in an attitude that led him, improbably enough, to open the Fox-televised UFC card. Johnson is fighting like he has nothing to lose, knocking dudes stiff, and for that he's moving toward the something-to-lose category. It will be interesting to see how the mid-tier heavyweight handles added pressure of success.

Belcher, though. The sport dinged him bad, nearly taking his sight. To cope with the emotions and thoughts that must come with that, the surgery and eventual recovery, to put it all on the line again by fighting dangerous beasts like Rousimar Palhares, I'm not sure there are many people who can comprehend what that requires.

Alan Belcher amazed on Saturday, and only in part because of his history.

The 28-year-old out of Biloxi, Miss., turned the tables on Palhares, attacking the Brazilian at his considerable strength. Leg locks, dare I say, are a dangerous game if played against “Toquinho,” but Belcher was obviously well prepared and defended the twisting, turning, bone-breaking attacks as well as he could.

Belcher wasn’t supposed to win -- not according to the mythology built up around the Brazilian. Palhares tore people limb by limb, OK? But, you know, Belcher wasn’t even supposed to be fighting, either. And there he was, slamming elbows and punches into the head of a stumpy middleweight stuck on his back.

UFC’s third card on Fox was its best since finding the brighter spotlight of prime-time network TV. After a too-short title fight followed by an all-decision card, Saturday’s effort -- highlighted by Johnson’s knockout, Belcher’s referee stoppage and Nate Diaz’s coming out party -- was a true example of mixed martial arts as spectator sport.

On a big night for combat sports, when UFC action led into Floyd Mayweather out-pointing Miguel Cotto and pocketing a record $32 million in guaranteed money, Belcher’s win -- his fourth straight -- feels worth singling out. The streak, halved by the retina detachment in 2010, puts him in position to compete at the upper reaches of UFC’s middleweight division.

Palhares, amazingly enough, wasn’t ranked coming into tonight. So where does that leave Belcher in a deep, competitive field?

I think he’d beat Hector Lombard, Bellator’s former champion and Zuffa’s newest signee, who has a similar chance to breakthrough on Fox when he fights Brian Stann in Los Angeles in August. Can’t say I feel so confident in Belcher if he’s matched against Stann. Belcher versus the winner between Ed Herman and Jake Shields makes sense. Perhaps Tim Boetsch or Michael Bisping, who meet this July. Whatever Zuffa tasks him with next, Belcher will eagerly answer the call.

After all, he didn’t come back from the brink of disaster for nothing.

Alan Belcher insists he is not underestimating the threat of the heel hook from Rousimar Palhares this weekend, but he is confident the Brazilian will not be able to lock on a submission in their middleweight battle. More »

The one thing that any successful fighter heading into the UFC will hear is this: He’s overrated. He hasn’t faced any real competition. Somebody’s about to come crashing down to earth. Somebody is about to get exposed.

That "somebody" this time happens to be Hector Lombard, the popular Bellator middleweight champion who has rattled off 20 victories in a row, including eight as the company’s flagship. Lombard is a menace at 185 pounds and is sculpted like a Frank Frazetta overlord, but the big gripe against him is he’s beating guys named Falaniko Vitale and Herbert Goodman instead of cats like Mark Munoz and Rousimar Palhares.

All that changes, now that Lombard makes his way to the UFC. Instead of facing UFC castoffs like Jay Silva and Joe Doerksen, the 34-year old American Top Team fighter will face UFC regulars. It’s a completely different vantage point. Lombard’s new assignment is to covert guys into UFC castoffs rather than feast on what’s left of their good names.

Here’s a quick look at five guys who would make for mean welcoming parties for “Shango.”

Brian Stann
Back when Jorge Santiago had built up a new head of stream in Sengoku, he became a popular dark horse pick against Brian Stann at UFC 130. What did Stann do? He punched the daylights out of him. And wouldn’t you know that just as Lombard brings his 25-fight unbeaten streak into the UFC, Stann is coming off a big victory over Alessio Sakara and needs an upgrade in opponent, just as all the bigger names are occupied?

Enter Hector Lombard. The great thing about this fight is both guys like to bang on the feet. Lombard is a precision striker who carries a lot of power. He likes to fight guys that get right up in his wheelhouse and tempt him into uncoiling. That’s Stann, who makes it his duty to oblige brawlers. (And just as often, shut them down).

Jake Shields
Shields has bounced back and forth between 170 and 185 pounds, and after a fairly subpar run in the UFC’s welterweight division, it looks like he’ll bulk back up. Bottom line is, he wasn't losing to slouches, either -- Georges St. Pierre and Jake Ellenberger (under trying circumstances, dealing with the passing of his father) never looked like easy outs.

But the last time we saw Shields as a middleweight he looked ... if not great, then totally resilient. He beat up Jason Miller for five rounds, and then improbably defended the Strikeforce belt against Dan Henderson in a fight he had his wits scrambled in the first round. Not to name drop, but Shields was the last guy to defeat Henderson, who is now set to fight Jon Jones for the 205-pound title. Think he wouldn’t like to punch some holes in Lombard’s lore? And for those desperate for storylines or loose patriotism, it’d be the battle of the Americas -- American Jiu-Jitsu versus American Top Team.

Luke Rockhold
Hey, while we’re restocking the UFC’s middleweight division with valuable intrigues, why not bring Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold into the UFC fold to face Lombard? It’s not the likeliest scenario, but Rockhold has just come into his own at a time when Strikeforce has become a weekend skeleton crew. Think he likes the idea of challenges named Keith Jardine or, maybe at some point, Bristol Marunde?

It’s fun to imagine a Rockhold/Lombard scrap. You’ve got two guys who aren’t afraid to fight in the pocket, each with a durable chin and sadistic intentions. It has “back-and-forth war” written all over it, a great UFC debut for both ... but it looks like Rockhold will get that long-awaited battle with Stikeforce contender Tim Kennedy, thus rendering this flight of fancy moot. Truth be told, we’re merely throwing Rockhold’s name out there in the off chance that matchmakers Sean Shelby and Joe Silva are combing the Internet for suggestions.

Ronaldo Souza
Again, we’re dealing in Strikeforce property (read: ultimately Zuffa’s), but Souza hates the pace of fighting once every six to eight months. And if the promotion does make Kennedy versus Rockhold, that means Jacare is going to be fighting some unmentionable. If the UFC brought Souza over to face Lombard, you’ve got the strutting fisticuffs that languished in Bellator for too long against the tall-grass predator with the aggressive, limb snatching jiu-jitsu. What better?

And how would that be for a red carpet rollout for both guys into the Octagon?

Ed Herman
You laugh. I can see you laughing. But let me put Herman’s name into perspective. For one thing, he has been completely rejuvenated since coming back from his knee injury and setbacks, having won three fights in a row. For another, “Short Fuse” is a finisher just like Lombard. In every one of those fights he dusted his hands of the opponent, beginning with Tim Credeur (whom he TKO’d in 48 seconds) and ending with Clifford Starks (second round rear-naked choke).

The guy he beat in-between? Why that was Kyle Noke (via first round heel hook), the same guy who took Lombard to a draw back in 2007. Herman is creeping up on the pack in the middleweight class, and Lombard is a big step up in opposition. Here’s the rub, though: So is Herman a big step up in competition for Lombard. Either Lombard could treat Herman as an appetizer to the main course, or he could, for the first time ever, find himself with a nostril full of smelling salts.

In the end, Luke Rockhold just said what we were all thinking.

After shoring up the initial defense of his Strikeforce title with a first-round knockout of Keith Jardine on Saturday night, Rockhold sounded pretty indifferent on the prospect of a bout with Tim Kennedy.

No offense to Kennedy -- he may be the promotion’s only real option as a No. 1 contender in the immediate future -- but even the middleweight champion seemed to tacitly acknowledge that Strikeforce 2.0 will fail without a significant influx of talent from its parent company.

“Right now all the best guys are in the UFC ...,” Rockhold said on Saturday, expertly sidestepping Kennedy altogether. “Those are the guys I want. I want to climb to the top, I want to fight the best in the world. I think they should bring over some top contenders.”

As bad as this makes us all feel for Kennedy -- nobody ever wants to fight him, seems like -- Rockhold is right.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if Strikeforce is going to live out this year and even see (e-gads!) 2014, it’s going to need more fighters. At this stage of MMA’s evolution, it’s hard to see anywhere those fighters (at least the ones any viewers have heard of before) would come from besides the UFC.

With that in mind, here are five compelling opponents for Rockhold who could all come to Strikeforce during 2012, without really upsetting the balance of power in the UFC 185-pound division:

Brian Stann: Stann shapes up a perfect future foe for Rockhold, given his status as a highly regarded up-and-comer recently knocked out of the thick of the UFC title hunt with an ugly loss to Chael Sonnen. At this point, the bigger fight company wouldn’t really miss him (much), but he’d be a huge addition to Strikeforce. Stann is just 31, a former WEC light heavyweight champion and would certainly have the chops to put up a better fight for the Strikeforce champ on his feet than Jardine did. The million dollar question might be whether Stann could keep the fight standing and -- in the event it went to the ground -- steer clear of Rockhold’s submission game. Up next, Stann is scheduled to meet Alessio Sakara in April in a fight he absolutely must (and should) win to maintain his status as a hot prospect. After that? Anything may be possible.

Alan Belcher: With the uncertainty of a 2010 eye injury now behind him, Belcher kicked off his full time return to competition with an expeditious beatdown of Jason MacDonald in September. He was briefly rumored as a next opponent for Vitor Belfort before Belfort got funneled into a matchup with Anthony Johnson (and then a TUF: Brazil coaching gig) and the UFC has yet to place him with an official upcoming fight. If matchmakers aren’t exactly sure how to pace the talented Duke Roufus-trained striker, a fight with Rockhold could be just the ticket.

Rousimar Palhares: If the UFC balked at sacrificing prospects like Stann or Belcher to Strikeforce, it could always think about somebody like Palhares. The fireplug submission specialist has beaten everyone he’s faced in the Octagon save for Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, but the company doesn’t seem to have him ticketed for big things, as evidenced by back-to-back fights against Dave Branch and Dan Miller. He’d be giving up a ton of height to the 6-foot-3 Rockhold, but things might get interesting if he could get the fight to the mat. Up next for him, Palhares fights Mike Massenzio on Jan. 14 at UFC 142.

Tim Boetsch: “The Barbarian” has proved cutting to middleweight was the proper move after unanimous decisions over Kendall Grove and Nick Ring. Still, not sure anyone is yet fully on board with him as a legit threat to the top of the division. That all changes if he beats Yushin Okami next month at UFC 144, of course, but if not? He’d shape up as a compelling litmus test for Rockhold, and a markedly different one than the guys listed above. To beat him, the Strikeforce champ would have to either stay off his back or become just the second man ever to submit him. The first was light heavyweight Phil Davis, which could put Rockhold in rarefied air if he were to pull it off.

Nate Marquardt: Call this one sort of an honorable (but likely impossible) mention. It’s been nearly six months since Marquardt was summarily dumped from the UFC after the summer’s testosterone therapy debacle. He’s finally scheduled to make his BAMMA debut on Feb. 11, taking on Yoshiyuki Yoshida for the British promotion’s welterweight title, but so far he hasn’t exactly started his post-Zuffa career like gangbusters. It’s probably out of the realm of possibility the organization would have him back, but if a change of heart occurred sometime during 2012, he’d make a great test for Rockhold.

Eleven months ago, Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares' decision to stop fighting mid-bout cost him dearly in a knockout loss to Nate Marquardt. Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, history very nearly repeated itself.

According to the Brazilian middleweight’s trainer, however, Palhares’ actions in the first round of his UFC 134 contest with Dan Miller have been misinterpreted.

Unlike his September 2010 defeat at the hands of Marquardt -- which saw Palhares punched out after the submission specialist turned to referee Herb Dean and complained that Marquardt’s leg was slippery -- Brazilian Top Team leader Murilo Bustamante explained Sunday that Palhares’ premature celebration against Miller actually came as a result of mercy.

Saturday night at Rio’s HSBC Arena, a heavy right head kick from Palhares felled Miller with 40 seconds remaining in the opening frame. The dazed New Jersey fighter covered up as Palhares connected with half a dozen punches from above before coolly striding away, his arms raised in victory. Palhares leapt atop the Octagon fence to soak in the adoration from his hometown crowd, but there was one problem: the referee -- Dean, coincidentally -- never called a stop to the bout.

“Just to clarify what happened during Toquinho’s fight,” Bustamante wrote on his personal Twitter account, “he told me that he stopped because his opponent said 'stop, stop' when he was punching him hard. Then, he stopped [hitting] him and thought that the fight was over and went to celebrate. Who can say now that 'Toko' isn’t a fair fighter? He is just too naive, but he has a big heart.”

Despite Bustamante’s claim, Miller’s manager and trainer, Mike Constantino of AMA Fight Club, asserted Monday that his fighter never asked out of the match.

“Dan assures me he did not say a word during that exchange,” Constatino wrote in an email to Sherdog.com. “Needless to say that with the loud crowd, the language barrier, the adrenaline rush and every other factor involved -- including ‘do not stop until the ref pulls you off’ -- I do not believe that Toquinho pulled up because of Dan murmuring ‘stop, stop.’ The fact remains that Dan Miller did not say ‘stop, stop’ -- there is no need to argue the toughness and mettle of Dan Miller, however I just have to put the facts on the table after hearing this.”

While Miller did not appear to protest the “stoppage” as he stood back up and walked to his corner, Constantino said that was only because he believed the fight had actually been stopped.

“He could not see and by Toquinho’s reaction, Dan assumed Herb stopped the fight,” wrote Constantino. “Once he heard us screaming to turn around and the fight wasn’t stopped, he ran across the Octagon to continue fighting.”

Review of the fight video by Sherdog.com proved inconclusive: If Miller did verbally submit, it was drowned out on television by the roar of the Rio audience. But, as beckoned Palhares down from the cage, referee Dean’s words were loud and clear: “I did not stop the fight. You have to keep fighting.”

And keep fighting they did. In a surprising turn, moments after touching gloves and resuming action, Toquinho found himself in a bad way, knocked down by a Miller combination. The Brazilian would regain his composure to finish the round with a takedown, though, and followed up with a dominant second period and a closer, but slower, third.

On Sunday, Bustamante offered no complaints about the non-stoppage, nor the extra 10 minutes of work his charge allegedly had to put in. However, the former UFC middleweight champion did take issue with the company naming a lightweight scrap between Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson the evening’s best bout.

“I think, as [with] everyone that watched the fight, that Toko should have won 'Fight of the Night.'”

RIO DE JANEIRO -- You had to be invited, but the Shooto event that happened on Thursday on a local Rio hillock was fireworks.

Yes, Marvin Eastman was knocked out by Glover Teixeira in the first round, but that in itself was not altogether unexpected if you look at Eastman’s professional record in recent years. The fireworks were literal, as there was a lot of heat being packed from the perimeter down in. After the Brazilian national anthem was sung, 200 special forces officers on hand fired their semi-automatic weapons into the soft earth at their feet with total aplomb. If you asked Clay Guida, Urijah Faber or Joseph Benavidez about it afterwards, they didn’t hear you but for the ringing in their ears.

In other words, Shooto put on one hell of a show. As the card was held outdoors, there were flying bugs to swat and acai to eat. Will Ribeiro was judging ringside. George Thorogood’s “Bad To the Bone” was piping in whenever convenient. It was a crazy if cryptic event held for the B.O.P.E. (Batalhao de Operacos Policiais Especials) -- the special police immortalized in the slightly-but-not-overly fictional portrayal in Jose Padilha’s “The Elite Squad.”

And since this is a Rio journal, I can ask the question that’s been bugging me ever since. Why wasn’t I there? I knew I’d be kicking myself for missing that. Let’s try this again. Hopefully UFC 134 is half as interesting (minus firearms, flying ants and Thorogood).

9:14 a.m.: Bruce Buffer grew up splitting time between Philadelphia and Dallas before moving to Malibu as a teenager. Yet it was in Malibu that he led a rough and tumble existence as a surfer due to a nasty case of “native territorialism.” Yet, if he hadn’t be forced to scrap back then, would he have ended up in Royce Gracie’s gym getting choked unconscious in the early 1990s? Would he have found his long lost brother Michael Buffer? Would he have become the voice of the Octagon, who is probably flanked by two very decent looking Rio women while his tuxedo is being pressed right this second?

The answer is of course: Maybe.

10:18 a.m.: Not sure how it looks up there in the States, but down here in Rio this UFC event is tabbed UFC Rio and not UFC 134 -- there’s no trace of 134. With the city of Rio sponsoring the event, it was obviously part of the deal to do away with anything that would suggest chronology (like the number progression). This is a destination. We have arrived. Nothing stood before it or and nothing quite as real will after. (Note: This makes it two in a row for events in Rio that have a strange vortex feel to them. The first one was UFC Brazil. I refuse on principle to call that 1998 event UFC 17½ as precisionists might).

11:33 a.m: Rio is a city that’s been building on top of itself for 450 years. Nobody I’ve talked to understands the layout here after several days of trying. You can be going in any direction for an hour and the Christ the Redeemer statue is still to the left or right. It’s all circles. Most roads are paved. Many forked. All of them curved, some to dead ends. One false move, favela. Somebody described the street layout like spaghetti. This seems too comprehensive.

12:45 p.m.: For the first time I am going to grab the media shuttle from the Praia Ipanema to the HSBC Arena which is, depending on whom you ask, an hour to an hour-and-a-half from Ipanema. The weigh-ins don’t start until 4 p.m., but there is a Q&A session with Vitor Belfort and friends beforehand. My cab driver on the way to the hotel says “Oh, UFC.” Then he does some air punches and makes some fun sounds and says “Minotauro, yeah?” Sometimes the language/cultural barrier is perfect.

1:30 p.m.: MMA Junkie’s John Morgan has his computer out as we wend along the beach towards the arena. This of course means everything is exactly as it should be. Meanwhile, other journalists contemplate acai. The idea of an impromptu UFC 13 ... err, UFC Rio roundtable en-route is briefly discussed but never materializes. The Japanese reporters in the very back of the van let out groans with every turn and dip (of which there are plenty). If this van crashes, coverage of UFC Rio would never make it back above the Equator. (Or so we like to kid ourselves).

2:12 p.m.: Just under an hour-and-a-half to the arena, through Barra. Along the beach, men and women always seem to be doing pull-ups on very generously distributed gym equipment. No wonder there is such a thing as Rousimar Palhares.

2:31 p.m.: The Q&A is underway. Vitor Belfort is an old hand at it. Problem is, everything he’s saying is in Portuguese. Luckily, there’s a German writer right next to me named Tobias Bunnenberg, who now lives in Sao Paulo. He translates for me in a thick German accent. Apparently Vitor is riling the crowd up by asking who follows which soccer team. He is a Flamengo man himself. He played for that club back in the day. Crowd likes where he’s going. Yushin Okami has been seen in Flamengo gear, too, trying to curry favor with fans (not sure it’s worked). Belfort can’t help sobering the crowd by saying that his real team is the UFC. There’s a “save us the details” sigh among the faithful.

2:40 p.m.: Full stage now, with Junior dos Santos, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo and Royce Gracie. Gracie says that 26 years ago he arrived in North America when nobody had heard of jiu-jitsu. He equates this to a scenario where Michael Jordan arrives in Brazil when nobody has heard of basketball. Inference is that he’s sort of the Michael Jordan of jitz. Wonder if T.R. Dunn could shut down his omoplata the way he kept Jordan from penetrating the paint in 1987?

2:55 p.m: Jose Aldo -- “Flamengo!” Crowd roars.

Junior Dos Santos -- “I promise I will knock Cain Velasquez out!” Crowd roars some more.

3:11 p.m.: Lyoto Machida tells a long-winded story that I will now relate through broken German translation. He used to run with his father and brother on the shore, and they would sprint to touch a distant tree. One day his father was sick, but he and his brother went about continuing this very cinematic activity. Lyoto pulled up maybe 50 meters short of his mark, and turned back. Why did he stop? This lazy moment became a sort of parable among the Machida’s. If you climb a tree to the top, you can see the other side. If you climb halfway, you can’t. Hopefully this conveys the gist. Bottom line of the message, go the whole way. (As relayed through German-English).

3:18 p.m.: MMAFighting's Ariel Helwani is sitting next to me, and we’re both eating acai. This is a cold sludgy very sweet purple plop of goodness (with plenty of vitamins and metaphysical reach). We are meant to regret the experience for not having a banana to chop into the acai by the natives sitting around us. Helwani has been watching the whole Q&A. What’s got his attention? Belfort’s ability to handle himself with a microphone. “He is a natural at this,” he says. “He is really good.” I don’t have the heart to tell him that Belfort is bagging on his beloved Montreal Expos. (Unless I’m misunderstanding what Vitor’s going on about).

3:43 p.m.: There’s a popular show in Brazil called “Panico na TV,” which is hosted by two-time Playboy centerpiece Sabrina Sato. She’s here, and the crowd appreciates it. But her sidekick, Tucano Huck, is the marvel. He wears a long rubber nose. I first saw him in Las Vegas in this guise. If he follows suit, we can expect at least one ridiculous question directed at Dana White afterward. At least one, but not limited to one.

3:45 p.m.: Gracie says he has one fight left in him, and that’s Matt Hughes. Crowd likes it.

4:20 p.m.: Brendan Schaub is treated to a chorus of “voce vai morrer!” as he takes the scale. The translation is “You will die!” Ominous. Forrest Griffin gets the same chant, then Okami. Maybe it won’t be a Shooto atmosphere, but it will be an interesting one. After hearing countless “U.S.A” chants in arenas across America, it’s a strange thing to catch the tables being turned.

4:35 p.m.: Everybody makes weight, and some guys by a couple of pounds. Okami weighs in at 183, and Silva at 184. Makes you wonder if the scale was a little off. Some media note the similarities between Marc Ratner and Keith Kizer as they go about reading the scale. This tells you how exciting weigh-ins can be.

6:01 p.m.: All the formalities are over. Now it’s time to go to Copacabana Beach and find souvenirs.

9:47 p.m.: The story within the story is, of course, how Bruce Buffer will handle himself after tearing his ACL at UFC 129 in Toronto. He was guts and brawn all the way through UFC 132, where went about his business with that bunk knee. Now he has a new tendon -- well, a replaced one taken from a cadaver -- and is as right as rain. His first show back was in Philadelphia at UFC 133, and he suffered no setbacks. Will he get his usual “three to four feet of air” (his words) in introducing Anderson Silva? Only if the tendon he has in his reconstructed knee was a basketball player.

This is what you think about when the Brahma is flowing in Rio.

Dan Henderson doesn’t go for easy storylines.

He downplayed dangerous submission specialist Rousimar Palhares ahead of UFC 88 to the point that you’d have thought the UFC plucked a random name out of the hat for him on a drunken dare. When it was brought up that he hadn't won a fight in the UFC in a decade at that point (mostly because he wasn't there), he laughed off the audacity of the media. And prior to fighting Rafael Cavalcante for the 205-pound belt in Ohio, the first thing he did was eschew parallels between fighting a Black House guy in Columbus for a belt, a circumstance he’d been through once before with Anderson Silva at UFC 82.

“Yeah, he is from the same team, and it’s the same town,” he said at the time. “But he’s a different fighter and I’m a better fighter than I was then.”

In other words, he wasn’t about to play up a bunch of coincidences. Maybe it was because he didn’t want there to be a parallel outcome.

Now he’s about to fight Fedor Emelianenko whom he shares a long, storied legacy with in Pride. That’s three Pride titles (and one Strikeforce belt) being piled into the cage, only with the stakes tangibly lowered by the passage of time. No accessories will change hands since its being fought at heavyweight, but surely there’s a decade’s worth of stored-up intrigue in play from when they were overlapping champions, right? The old East versus West rivalry? Sambo versus Greco? Champion versus champion?

Not so much.

“It wasn’t me who really wanted the fight,” Henderson told ESPN.com. “It’s something that the media and the fans have been asking about since I signed with Strikeforce. It wasn’t me that was asking for this fight.

“I think there was a little bit of a rumble about it back when I beat Wanderlei [Silva] and took his belt in Pride. I made a comment, ‘I guess heavyweight is next,’ but it was more of a joke. But then when I signed with Strikeforce, that would be the key to why this came about. All the fans and the media were wanting this fight.”

That’s Henderson for you -- forthright, even-keel, ever-ready to fight whoever, whenever, in whatever weight class, so long as it makes for an interesting viewing experience for fans.

And yet, even if he hasn’t pined for the super-fight, he did have a vicarious experience with Fedor back in 2007 when his training partner at the time, Matt Lindland, fought Fedor in St. Petersburg, Russia. Though he didn’t help Lindland train for Fedor, he was in his corner that night and watched his then-Team Quest teammate get tapped unceremoniously fast (via armbar). It didn’t turn out like Rocky IV, but Henderson got to witness how the “Last Emperor” is received in his native land.

“I’ve seen it before in Russia with different athletes, especially with Aleksandr Karelin in wrestling,” he says. “They treated him like a god. Fedor … not quite as much, but obviously he’s highly regarded over there and well-loved by the fans. It was kind of a different thing than how they treated Karelin, though.”

Did it cross his mind how he would have fared against Emelianenko that night?

“I guess a little bit,” he says. “I would have done a much better job.”

You can change the tenses to “I will do a much better job,” because now he’ll have the chance this weekend. If you want a parallel to the old Pride days when both men where king, Henderson does offer this: Expect each of them to appear in their vintage forms.

“Obviously Fedor is real dangerous whether he’s in shape or out of shape -- I’ve seen him where he’s really out of shape and he still knocks guys out or pulls through and win the fights,” he says. “But as far as his two losses, it might diminish it a little bit, but it probably re-motivated him to where he’s going to come in in shape and that’s the Fedor I want to fight.

“He’s going to be a little more mobile bouncing around and a little more offensive that first round. I just need to implement my game plan and wear him out at the same time, especially in that first round … that first round is going to be crucial.”

That pretty much says it all.

The UFC 134 fight card in Rio has been tinkered after Dan Miller stepped in to fight Rousimar Palhares. More »

A battle of submission specialists is in the works for August, as middleweights Rousimar Palhares and Alexandre Ferreira will likely square off at UFC 134 “Rio.” More »

Fair or not, whenever I hear the words "leg lock specialist," my thoughts immediately turn to Oleg Taktarov and the incredible potential for a broken face when things don't go as planned. I'd call it "When Leg Locks Fail" and sell it into syndication.

Nate Marquardt needed only a few minutes to dispatch Rousimar Palhares, a dangerous submission fighter with no reverse gear. After an extended feeling-out process, Marquardt found himself in a flash bit of trouble when Palhares snared his leg; Marquardt slipped out, turned and beat Palhares silly.

In doing so, Marquardt reestablished his contender status at middleweight, though it's a long line. And against Palhares, there's little way of figuring out whether Marquardt has addressed the issues in confronting wrestling (versus Chael Sonnen) and sharp striking (versus Anderson Silva) that caused him problems in previous fights.

Palhares? He reestablished the severe danger lower-body submissions present when they're mismanaged. To his credit, he attempted it early in the fight when Marquardt should have been dry. Instead, Marquardt indicated he'd warmed up significantly for just such an occasion -- to the point that Palhares accused him of being greased up. When your strategy pays off to the point you're accused of cheating, you should take it as a compliment.

Next for Marquardt: The winner of November's Vitor Belfort/Yushin Okami bout to decide a solid top contender.

Next for Palhares: Brazilian jiu-jitsu versus Brazilian jiu-jitsu against Demian Maia.

Next for Charles Oliveira: A bump in competition against Tyson Griffin.

Next for Efrain Escudero: The realization that you're supposed to lay out 20 percent of your salary for retirement, not penalties for missing weight.

Next for Jim Miller: The winner of next weekend's Melvin Guillard-Jeremy Stephens fight.

Awards

Sharper focus award: The UFC, for implementing an easily understood chart of contenders in the middleweight division and including dates for pending key bouts.

Killing the dead air award: The editing truck, for taking the awkwardness out of promotional interviews by cutting out the dead air … caused by conversations … via the delayed signals … of satellite … television.

Requisite groin shots award: Escudero and Charles Oliveira, who nearly let an entire event go by without at least one blast below the belt. They gave us two.

Equal time award: Part-time politician Chael Sonnen, who needed only .001 seconds after realizing he was on live television before he started talking; Mike Goldberg, who failed to acknowledge a smiling Ben Rothwell in the crowd as a UFC athlete.

A little nip here and tuck there, and it's entirely possible the UFC will one day broadcast biweekly or weekly fight cards, completing its assimilation of the pro-wrestling market. Shave down those 10- or 11-bout pay-per-views, absorb the WEC and recruit some of the global talent the promotion is grooming for international expansion, and you have at least 26 weeks of programming.

Until then, you'll have to settle for Wednesday's broadcast of UFC Fight Night 22, headlined by Nate Marquardt mixing it up with Rousimar Palhares. Marquardt was last seen suffering a debilitating, contender-nicking loss to Chael Sonnen; Palhares drew some heat for cranking a submission on Tomasz Drwal after a tap. Although Palhares has lost only once in the Octagon -- to Dan Henderson -- the rest of his opposition has been less than stellar. Marquardt represents a quantum step in competition since the Henderson fight. The story of how Palhares responds to those new demands on his abilities is probably the most intriguing of the night.

What: UFC Fight Night 22, a 10-bout card from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas

When: Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Spike

Why you should care: Because Marquardt has an opportunity to re-establish his credibility as a 185-pound contender; because 13-0 Charles Oliveira will learn when he faces Efrain Escudero whether his impressive record is the result of talent or underqualified Brazilian opposition; because if Jim Miller defeats Gleison Tibau, he probably will be in the sights of the Gray Maynard-Frankie Edgar winner; and because, really, what else is there to do on a Wednesday night?

Fight of the night: Ross Pearson-Cole Miller, which involves aggressive striking (Pearson) frustrated by significant reach (Miller).

Hype quote of the show: "The thing is, he's getting all decisions, and his one stoppage was over Aaron Riley, and it was a cut stoppage. He wants to score, then clinch, and score and clinch. I'm sure this guy's got knockout power -- he's built like a tank -- but it just doesn't seem like he's really down to put forth that type of commitment to ending a fight. I think this is bad for the sport; it's bad for the UFC." -- Miller on Pearson to UFC.com.

Red ink: Marquardt versus Palhares

Even in a sport known for bursts of gore, the idea that an athlete would step outside the boundaries of regulation to inflict unnecessary harm is treated with scorn. Prizefighting is a pretty deliberate crime scene, and random violence isn't welcome.

Palhares took his hits after cranking a submission on Tomasz Drwal in March, earning a 90-day suspension and the stink-eye of observers who recoil at unfair or excessive behavior. Whether that translates into his playing the heel during Wednesday's main event against Marquardt is up to the arena audience.

Unfortunately for Palhares, folks probably have their minds made up. Marquardt is one of the more likable contenders around -- unfailingly polite, mannered and respectful of his opposition. He can hit, he can grapple and his head is screwed on straight thanks to a relationship with trainer Greg Jackson. He's probably the most well-rounded middleweight to never earn a UFC title.

If he wants to re-enter that discussion, he'll have to figure out a way to remain safe on the ground with Palhares -- a tenacious submission man -- while avoiding his power and attitude in stand-up. This is a winnable fight for Marquardt but won't be in any way fun for him.

Might look like: Marquardt's bout with stifling jiu-jitsu artist Thales Leites, Marquardt's second loss in the UFC.

Wild card: The bout was originally scheduled for an Aug. 28 UFC event. Will the two-week delay affect either athlete's ability to peak on time?

Who wins: Marquardt has more tools in the shed -- and more to lose. Marquardt via TKO.

UFC versus Strikeforce: weighing the heavyweights

Announced Monday, Strikeforce's commitment to Josh Barnett puts an end to his stretch of semiobscurity following a positive test for banned substances in August 2009. It does not, however, conclude the debate over which promotion -- Strikeforce or the UFC -- has the superior heavyweight division. It might, in fact, just make things worse.

The pro-UFC contingent will say (correctly) that a chunk of Strikeforce's roster is made up of fighters who delivered mixed results in the Octagon: Andrei Arlovski (a former champion), Fabricio Werdum and Mike Kyle. Alistair Overeem, although fit enough to enter a bodybuilding contest, hasn't yet proved his skills against a significant heavyweight. Fedor Emelianenko is a question mark.

The UFC has a monopoly on boxer-wrestlers such as Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin as well as barely disputed Brock Lesnar. Struggling Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic handled Barnett on multiple occasions. (The oddball spectacle has been well-represented in both promotions by James Toney and Herschel Walker: Call it a tie.)

The argument really comes down to a comparison of fading stars from the past decade to talent groomed to be competitive in a ruthless environment: Pride stars such as Emelianenko and Barnett alternated tough bouts with nonsense, whereas UFC athletes are expected to perform at a high level on a constant basis. In a head-on collision, I would expect Velasquez, Carwin and Lesnar to give Barnett, Werdum and Emelianenko a very hard time -- if for no other reason than their being used to constant resistance.

We know Barnett-Emelianenko is the most interesting possible outcome of the signing, but it's likely we'll be made to suffer through Barnett in some insipid "building" of the new hire in order to get audiences familiar with him. This rarely works -- fighters set on a course for one another usually wind up losing prematurely -- and no one ever stops to think that a good pregame show and some media would have the same effect.

Ultimately, it's not really about the volume of contenders but about the promotion's ability to sift through the filler and put on competitive matches. Lesnar and Velasquez will fight in a month; Lesnar just fought Carwin. Things are moving there. Hopefully the same will prove true of Barnett, Werdum and the rest. Talent needs to fight talent.