(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com)

Well, that was fun, no? A night full of surprises, a few knockouts, and the dreaded Ipecac bet ends in a tie, thus making it possible for Ben Goldstein’s mother to rest easy, at least for now. Now that we’ve all had a chance to digest the evening’s events and process the alcohol through our systems, let’s see if we can’t pull it together for a painfully sober look at what really happened last night.

- B.J. Penn dominates; Sean Sherk relies on worst game plan ever. I have to give it to Penn. He looked like a champion from start to finish, picking Sherk apart without getting too frantic and then showing his class after the fight was over. But at the same time, what was Sherk thinking? Standing and trading punches with Penn clearly wasn’t working, as evidenced by Sherk’s face after two rounds. He never seemed committed to getting the fight on the ground, and as a result only allowed Penn to grow more confident of his striking game as the minutes wore on. Maybe he hoped Penn would gas out after punching him in the face for fifteen minutes?

- Tito Ortiz‘s exit surprisingly graceful…until the press conference. It seemed strange that the UFC would even give Ortiz any time on the mic after his decision loss to Machida, but even more bizarre that he was mostly cordial about it. Then came the press conference, which Ortiz showed up at uninvited and caused a minor scene. Dave Meltzer describes an odd scene where Ortiz is asked to leave the press conference by UFC officials, but then told to stay put by Jenna Jameson. Guess who he listened to? What followed was a minor flare-up as Ortiz and Dana White accused one another of trying to be “superstars”, an accusation neither is in a position to refute. Oh, Tito. You will be missed.

- Wanderlei Silva gets KO of the night, and a little breathing room. It might be too soon to say that “The Axe Murderer” is back, but he sure looked more like the Wanderlei of old as he put a quick end to Keith Jardine‘s night. Jardine just couldn’t stand up to the power and pressure from Silva, who needed the victory more than anyone else on the fight card. If this is a sign that Silva is finally comfortable in the UFC and back on track, there are several interesting match-ups left for him in the 205-pound division.

- Reljic-Gouveia earn Fight of the Night honors, Palhares gets Submission of the Night. It was looking bad for Rousimar Palhares‘s performance, on the other hand, was impressive from start to finish. As for Salaverry, it might be time to find a new line of work.

- Shane Carwin is a monster. Seriously, lock your doors. Then go hide in the basement. Then, and only then, you can demand to see Carwin tested against a top heavyweight. But don’t make that demand too loudly. He might hear you. If that happens just freeze. Like a T-Rex, his vision is movement-based.