UFC 158 Results: Did the Fight Card Live Up to the Hype?

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"Georges St-Pierre flipped...out tonight."

"He has no idea...how dark I am within my head sometime."

"I don't think he's hurt. I think he's scared."

"Wolf tickets."

"Toxic plane water."

"Don't be scared, bro."

"Are you crazy inside your head, man?"

"

If this wasn't the circus, remind me not to be here when the circus arrives. The ads for UFC 158, the endless promos, the wild news conferences and media calls, the miles of interviews and column inches, all generating the quotes above and so many, many more (conveniently summarized here by Bleacher Report's own Jonathan Snowden), combined to form a near-sentient behemoth of hype rarely witnessed in the UFC this side of Chael Sonnen.

Coming into the fight, it seemed aliens would need to fly out of someone's head in order for the event to live up to all that buzz. What in today's 24-hour0hype world has met such expectations? LeBron James? RGIII? Doritos Locos Tacos? Heidi Montag's solo album?

Whatever the list, it's not long. And UFC 158, good, solid event that it was, is not on it.

Sure, there were great moments. And sure, the fitting capper came when Georges St-Pierre, MMA's second-most dominant champion behind only the great Anderson Silva, buried his blood rivalry with Nick Diaz.

And absolutely, Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit waged a memorable war, which Hendricks won to earn the next dance with St-Pierre. There were other good moments, too.

But to live up to this kind of hype, you need more than moments. You need a full card. You need wars and stoppages and blood and brilliance. You got some of those things in varying doses Saturday night, but at the end of the metaphorical day the card just never really put it all together consistently.

It was a good night, but not a great one. Since the hype was great, the two can't be considered equals.