Anyone familiar with my work needs to realize that the extended unemployment checks aren't coming anymore and you need to get up and find a new job. If God forbid, you're a real writer who reads my stuff to feel better about your work, give two days notice and resign immediately -- seriously you stink. Your colleagues will applaud you. You will set the bar for integrity and honesty to a level heretofore only vaguely hinted at in wispy dreams by psychics, mystics and seers. Dionysus will climb out of the grave his long, weary search for one honest man is finally realized; he can put down his lantern and rest in peace.

As is usually the case, I'm four or five days behind breaking news and opinion pieces in the MMA world . I take sometime to ruminate about what I've seen and how I feel about it. I've led an apathetic crusade, much like Ralph Nader on Quaaludes that demands more bang for our buck from the UFC Pay Per View events. Saturday we got it!! What a great card with fantastic bouts! Everyone left it all out there in the Octagon and I for one was absolutely transported!

I thought UFC 91 was far superior to the last two or three offerings. OK transported is a blatant exaggeration, but my wife, Leo and I (Leo's our dog and honestly he wasn't all that hyped) sat at the edge of our seats, teeth gritted, muscles tight with excitement throughout. My only complaint -- there's always at least one -- was the crowd booing whenever they thought action lagged. That really bothered me and unfortunately it's becoming more and more frequent with each event. I don't really understand how the most sportsman-like, respectful athletes in the world generate such ignorant, inhospitable fans. By no means do I single out any city or venue but it seems that the fans are more like Romans at the colosseum giving the thumbs down at some macabre "one bucket of water with three burning Christians" match.

Speaking of Rome -- very smooth segue me thinks -- Roman Madrowski of The Chicago Sun-Times Sports gets my "Poke in the Eye with a Sharp Stick" award. He must have been in the bathroom during the first fight as he called Sherk and Griffin a controversial decision. Great fight, stupid call and he's not done yet, writing, " Apology Appropriate" in his article regarding the anticlimactic main event. I don't usually read articles -- I watch fight videos, but when I saw that headline, I had to see what pecker head wrote it.

Ever hear of strategy sir? May not have been the best game plan, but if not for unreasonable expectations, Silva would have submitted Cote in the first round or did you miss the Ricardo Almeida/Cote fight? Cote couldn't wrestle a good nap from a soft mat. Why would Silva want to go five rounds with Cote for reasons other than the new good showing rather than smart fighting mentality? Why stand toe to toe with a knockout threat? Getting hit less while hitting your opponent more seemed like good sense to me, but I don't get paid for my opinion and therefore you're probably a "Far Cry" (free product placing eh eh? ) smarter than I am. Kevin Iole from Yahoo Sports gets the, "Swift Kick to the Seat of the Pants Award'' for running a very close second with your bone-headed article, "Silva's Actions Not Befitting His Stature" article.

Enough with my amateurish scribblings but I think those whose penchant for a good show is more important than a smart fight would probably enjoy the WWE over what was in my humble (and free) opinion a great night of fights.

Same Bat time same Bat channel!

From CompuStrike.com

Anderson Silva W 3 (TKO) Patrick Cote

Inside the Numbers: The tentative Silva got off just 52 total strikes through two rounds, landing 27, nine of which were leg strikes. Cote was busier in rounds one and two with 65 strikes attempted, but he landed just 13 before an injured knee forced the fight to be halted :39 into round three.

As you can see not only was Silva less active than usual he was less accurate than usual as well. He landed a tad over 50% when he usually lands at a much higher percentage than that. Cote landed one out of every 5 strikes so there goes his claim that he was taking it to Silva.

From Sherdog.com:

“There are many people saying I was disrespecting Cote, but this is absolutely not true,” Silva told Sherdog.com. “My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn’t waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault.”

Anderson also goes on to say that he doesn't know about the rumors of him possibly facing Chuck Liddell at UFC 93.

Congratulations to FightTicker.com member iamphoenix, who won first place in the FightTicker.com UFC 90 Giveaway Contest sponsored by Playboy and to johnmartinisj2k813, who came in second.

Both iamphoenix and johnmartinisj2k813 will be receiving the November issue of Playboy featuring former UFC Octagon girl Rachelle Leah. Both copies will be signed by Leah.

iamphoenix led the way with 82.5 points with johnmartinisj2k813 close behind with 75 points. On a side note, third place went to zyla1969, who came in with 70 points. Total possible points were 112.5. Not a single contestant got all five fights right and the top three each got four right.

Thanks to all those who participated and thanks once again to Playboy for the great prize. Continue to look for more contests and more giveaways here at FightTicker.com.

Not according to two of mainstream media's top writers (and thus major influencers when it comes to mainstream MMA fans) -- SI.com's Josh Gross and Yahoo.com's Kevin Iole.

Here's what Gross said in his postfight recap titled "Silva's latest title defense more showboating than substance":

When Anderson Silva puts on a show with his hands and feet, it generally makes for a short night. Saturday evening at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., however, the "show" featured more dancing and showboating than punching and kicking.

For the first time in his UFC career, Silva, 33, was pushed past the second round -- and that had little to do with his opponent. Defending the UFC middleweight belt against Patrick Cote, expectations demanded a resounding performance. Instead, the dangerous champion strutted his way through two-plus rounds before Cote fell to the canvas when his right knee gave way 39 seconds into the third.

And, here's what Iole said in his recap, titled "Silva’s actions unbefitting his stature":

On Saturday, he delivered another act that was not so becoming of an athlete of his stature.

In a lame attempt at humor, Silva made a mockery of himself, his title and his sport in one of the most bizarre matches in UFC history.

In fact, Iole reports that Silva apologized afterwards for his performance:

“I apologize,” Silva said. “I worked hard in training to go four or five rounds. I dropped from 230 pounds to 205 and then to 185. I worked my butt off. I had a long camp preparing for the fight. I owe you guys in the media, the fans and everyone an apology. I was prepared, but it’s unfortunate what happened.”

We've heard reports that Silva is planning to and wants to retire soon. Was his UFC 90 fight performance confirmation of this fact? If his heart is no longer in it, I would rather see him retire now than put on more performances like the one at UFC 90. While there is still no one in his league, nonchalance inside the Octagon could have devastating consequences both for Silva's health and his legacy.

Here are some of the pertinent stats, thanks to TheFightNetwork.com:

Total Attendance: 15,359
Live Gate: $2.8 million

Fight Night Bonuses: $65,000 for each fighter given for the following honors:

Fight of the Night: Sean Sherk, Tyson Griffin
KO of the Night: Junior Dos Santos
Submission of the Night: Spencer Fisher

The best pound-for-pound fighter in the world got perhaps his best challenge of his career, didn't look his best and still got a TKO victory to defend his title for the fourth time.

One week later and the UFC is holding another major show. At least this one has a title on the line. The main event is of course the lamb being led to slaughter as Patrick Cote will face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight championship.

Stay tuned and leave as many comments as you'd like. To all you Canadians -- don't bet the mortgage on Cote no matter how the odds look!!

Tonight we have UFC 90 featuring what many consider as one sided of a match-up that we have seen in the UFC where Anderson Silva faces Patrick Cote for the world middleweight championship. There are many interesting fights on this card. Here is a breakdown of each one:

Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote - UFC Middleweight Championship

I won't delve much into this as it is one of the fights we discussed on the first-ever FightTicker.com roundtable. Cote has power in both hands and has a great chin but I don't think he has much of a chance here. In fact he has no chance at beating Silva. Silva will crack him with some fists, elbows and knees and Cote will wake up somewhere in Canada wishing he was a mountie.

Josh Koshcheck vs. Thiago Alves - Welterweights

Another one of the fights that we discussed. This is an interesting battle as you have the classic striker vs. grappler match-up. Koshcheck is of course a very late replacement for an injured Diego Sanchez and is coming off an impressive victory over Chris Lytle. Alves barely made weight coming in at 171 and I can only imagine what he will weigh during the actual fight. Many people have said that if Hughes couldn't get Alves down then Kos won't be able to. I disagree -- Kos is younger, more athletic and at this point in their careers stronger than Hughes. It's simple -- Alves wins if he keeps it standing while Kos wins if he is able to get Alves down.

Rich Clementi vs. Gray Maynard - Lightweights

I see Maynard as the future of the lightweight division. He is the only fighter to have defeated a very good Frankie Edgar. Combine his strong wrestling, great strength and the fact that he trains with Couture and that gives you a recipe for success. Clementi is a wily veteran with great subs and will be no pushover. How well he can roll with a stand-out wrestler like Maynard remains to be seen.