Fisher, Stout stand & deliver

Go ahead, copy last night's UFC main event to DVD. It's an instant classic.

Spencer Fisher, 31, (21-3) won a unanimous decision in his rematch against Sam Stout, 23, (12-3-1) but the lightweight fight was anything but one-sided. Fisher, who lost to Stout last year, dropped bombs from every angle but, each time, Stout brushed it off and answered with solid blows of his own.

Despite the unanimous decision, I thought the first round was almost too close to call, either way.

I gave Fisher the edge in aggressiveness but Stout always seemed to have a timely kick or knee strike to punish Fisher for charging forward. By the third round, however, Stout's punches had gone slack. He was still swinging and countering but there was no zip at all.

The third round was Fisher's best. He rocked Stout a couple times early in the round, controlling it the whole way.

But the first and second rounds were spectacular. They each ended with the crowd at the Hard Rock Casino giving standing ovations. All I could think of at the moment was that UFC and Spike had produced something special once again, the same way they did during the first Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar fight.

Fisher not only avenged his loss to Stout, he also added enough shine to his star to put him in line for an eventual title fight. That is if he can repeat against Stout in the likely rubber match.

Here's some observations from the evening:

I didn't see enough of Anthony Johnson's debut in the UFC to tell whether he's going to be a star. That's what happens when you knock out your opponent in 13 seconds. Still, Johnson had the biggest laugh of the night when Joe Rogan asked him what was going through his mind after he landed the deciding left cross. "Man down, man down," Johnson replied . . .

. . . The second funniest moment was during a promo for UFC 72 this weekend in Belfast, northern Ireland. Forrest Griffin, who has Irish roots, said something about how there was no way he could go to Ireland and lose to a Hispanic. That brought a combination of laughs and gasps from the South Florida crowd, where Hispanics were well represented . . .

. . . The strangest fight of the night was the Tamdan McCrory vs. Pete Spratt match. McCrory, a lanky, awkward-looking middleweight, looked overmatched most of the fight. The crowd booed when McCrory refused to stand up. Spratt looked frustrated, too. Then faster than you could shout, "look out," Spratt fell into the trap McCrory had been setting from the opening bell. McCrory dropped a triangle choke on Spratt that forced the Texan to tap out at 2:04 in the second round . . .

. . . The most brutal punch of the night was landed by Drew McFedries on Jordan Radev after Radev was knocked flat. McFedries pounced and landed three shuddering blows to a defenseless Radev before the ref could push him away. . . .

. . . Finally, I think it's safe to say that UFC events have eclipsed NBA basketball games as the place for the hottest female fans. The hot mom in the picture below was showing off her stripper moves -- including squeezing her breasts -- for the camera while her two kids sat nearby. Way to go mom!