UFC 84 Recap: Ill Will Worth the Price of Admission...And Then Some

The UFC may have had it's most exciting night of fisticuffs tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as UFC 84: Ill Will did not disappoint.

In the main event of the evening Lightweight champ BJ Penn successfully defended his strap against the former champ Sean Sherk.  The Nevada crowd was solidly behind Penn as he imposed his will for fifteen minutes, not allowing Sherk a takedown or any major offense whatsoever. 

At the end of the third round, Baby J caught Sherk with a devastating knee and followed up with a barrage of solid punches, ultimately forcing referee Mario Yamasaki to step in and stop the fight as the horn sounded.

"I didn't even hear the bell sound," said a dazed Muscleshark, post fight.

Furthermore, Penn enticed the crowd and fans around the world as he stated his willingness to move up to the welterweight division and take on current champ Georges St. Pierre.  The reaction was plentiful as fans cheered mercilessly in anticipation of a rematch between the two stars.

If you thought the main event was action packed, the rest of the card proved to be one of the best in the Octagons fourteen and a half year history. 

Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva chalked up his first UFC victory as he dazzled in his 36 second showing against Keith Jardine. The KO loving Brazilian bomber caught Jardine while he was trying to throw a kick, crumpling him with an amazing array of punches. 

The ref stepped in after Jardine was seemingly unconscious for quite a while, getting his face filled in with gruesome shots.  This fight jumbles up the 205 division and helps Silva get back in the mix after three consecutive losses.

In the only decision on the televised card, Lyoto Machida disposed of much loved and much maligned Tito Ortiz. 

Have you ever seen the episode of Family Guy where they're at the company picnic and they play catch the greasy, naked, deaf guy?  Well Machida isn't deaf, naked, or greasy but man is he elusive. 

Ortiz could not find an answer to "The Dragon's" passive aggressive karate style.  Machida landed kicks, stuffed takedown attempts, and ultimately frustrated Tito for fifteen minutes. 

In the third round, however, Tito was dropped with a vicious knee to the midsection, ending up on his back.  With only 30 seconds remaining in the fight Ortiz locked on an extremely tight triangle choke, which was amazingly escaped by Machida with only seconds to go. 

Machida said after the fight that he would die before tapping.  All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Machida, in Tito's swan song in the Octagon.

In other main card action 13-0 Thiago Silva survived an early high kick from fellow Brazilian Antonio Mendes.  Silva weathered the storm and gained another impressive win, forcing Mendes to tap due to strikes in the first round at 2:24.

Croatian born and Mirko Crocop trained Goran Reljic improved to a 8-0 record as he stopped an early storm from Brazilian Wilson Gouveia.  Reljic impressed in his UFC debut as he dropped Gouveia 3:15 into the second round with a hard right hand.

All in all UFC 84: Ill Will proved to be the most exciting array of fights in the year 2008.  Many of these will be prominately featured on a knockout DVD or the best fights of 08. (Alongside Dustin Leon's simultaneous knockout against yours truly.)  And to answer your question, yes, I do shout out my friends in my articles.  Just don't expect it all the time.  You know who you are.