Matt Hughes Defeats Royce Gracie At UFC 60

Well, many of us older fans were hoping for the best when Royce stepped back in the octagon after a 11 year absence. The results, were not good.

MATT HUGHES came out victorious as most predicted, but all were amazed at just how easily he did it. The fighters exchanged kicks early on and peppered out jabs with little affect to either fighter. As they clinched against the cage, it was Matt who took down Royce Gracie immediately getting side control. From there Matt quickly secured a brutal kimura that looked as if at any moment would break the Gracie's arm. Royce held on and showed no pain during the brutal hold. Then Matt passed Royce's guard and established a rear mount. As Royce lay face down on the canvas, Matt began to reign down very hard blows as the round was drawing to a close. John McCarthy saw Royce unable to defend himself properly and stepped in to end the contest.

Aftermath-What was shocking about the fight was not the outcome, but how easily Matt Hughes absolutely dominated Royce Gracie on the ground. After the fight, both fighters shook hands and Matt was very respectful in his interviews. Royce spoke saying he had a couple more fights left in him and that he would be back. Only time will tell.

DEAN LISTER easily beat highly touted Italian fighter Alessio Sakara, pulling guard and submitting the larger fighter with a triangle choke. Dean said after the fight, he would return to his weight class of 185lbs.

DIEGO SANCHEZ won his bout against John Alessio by decision. Diego was thwarted on every single takedown attempt in the first round as John landed the jab. In the second, Diego continued to fail at the takedown and John opened a large cut over Diego's right eye. Blood continued down "Nightmare's" face as he finally got John down though he quickly got back up. Diego then climbed on the back of Alessio and could not secure a choke. At odd thing happened next where Diego stayed on John's back, while he was standing, as John defended the choke attempts. For the final 15 seconds of the fight Diego began punching from John's back though they seemed to have little affect. Diego got the judges decision, though I'm not sure how, with one judge scoring all 3 rounds for Diego. The Staples Center shouted a chorus of boo's down as they showed their displeasure at judges odd decision.

BRANDON VERA scored a very impressive victory over Brazilian Ausserio Silva with the guillotine choke. The fight started slow and came to a halt when Silva was accidentally poked in the eye. Upon restarting, Ausserio was visibly angry and charged in. The quick Vera, wrapped a guillotine around Silva's neck as Ausserio slammed him to the ground. Brandon held on and the submission was tight forcing the tapout.

MIKE SWICK lives up to the nickname "Quick" by once again winning a fight in the 1st round. This time Swick used a nice kick to Joe Riggs head and when staggered, Mike secured the "Swickotine" for another solid win.

JEREMY HORN defeated Chael Sonnen for the 3rd time by armbar of the 2nd round.

SPENCER FISHER and Matt Wiman had the fight of the night! The virtually unknown Wiman seemed to be dominating the fight with his quick standup and even quicker ground game. Spencer continued to fight on and scored a elbow which cut Matt as the opening round came to a close. As they parted for their corners, Spencer bumped Matt and the two began trash talking. The talking continued before the beginning of round 2 with each fighter calling for the other to step forward and fight. Both men came out throwing leather but it was Spencer who landed a hard right hand hurting Matt. Wiman pointed up as if to say he wasn't hurt (though clearly he was) and Fisher took the opportunity to land a devastating flying knee that ended the fight.

GABRIEL GONZAGA beat up Fabiano Scherner in the first round of their contest and Fabiano claimed between rounds he was having double vision. Fabiano decided to continue until Gonzaga immediately landed some heavy punches dropping Scherner and forcing the ref to call an end to the fight.

MELVIN GUILLARD KO'd Rick Davis with a beautiful punch that had Rick out before he hit the canvas.

Well, UFC 60 had a lot of quick fights that were pretty lopsided with the exception of the Sanchez/Alessio fight. Brandon Vera continues to impress and has to be in the top 5 heavyweights now in the UFC. Ausserio Silva may be looking for another job with Fabiano Scherner who has not looked decent in a fight yet. The lightweights were exciting and Fisher could be facing Melvin soon to tighten up the lightweight rankings. Matt Wiman should get another shot in the UFC after delivering an exciting bout though he lost. Jeremy Horn and Chael Sonnen are good fighters that nobody seems to want to watch. Joe Riggs needs to rethink things, pick a weight class, and apply himself. Swick and Dean Lister are now in the 185 hunt, while Diego didn't prove anything in his controversial victory over John Alessio who must be brought back for more fights. Maybe these two should just rematch. I am still not sold on Sakara who seems to be going the wrong way in the light heavyweight division.

Finally, Matt Hughes continued to solidify his career with a big name win but must now focus on the uber-talented George St. Pierre for his next title defense. Royce Gracie is already a legend who needs to prove nothing. He may come back to fight, and he may not. Either way, the man started it all and I'll continue to watch him as long as he wants to fight.-MMA Mafia