Special thanks to Oliver Chan and photographer Rick Albrecht for the photos.

If there’s one thing that I took away from last night’s World Series of Fighting card, it was that even a high profile promotion that puts on a night of entertaining fights is going to encounter some hiccups during its second event. Join us as we relive the highs and lows from WSoF 2.

The Good:

Anthony Johnson looked legitimate at heavyweight: Heading into last night’s main event, a lot was riding on Anthony “Rumble” Johnson actually fighting like a true heavyweight and not just looking like one. With all of the focus from fans and pundits alike on the “former UFC welterweight” issue, a poor showing from Johnson could have caused many fans to dismiss WSoF as an organization of squash matches and freak show fights. Fortunately for the organization, last night Rumble proved that his fight against Andrei Arlovski didn’t deserve freak show status. Johnson was too quick for Arlovski early on, and almost finished the fight before the end of the first round. He may have gassed out early – that’ll happen when you take a knee to the juevos during your first fight as a heavyweight – but at least he demonstrated that he’s capable of being a competent heavyweight if Ray Sefo needs him to be one again.

(Admit it. You kind of missed that tongue. / Photo via facebook.com/MMAWorldSeries)

Tonight in Atlantic City, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski headlines World Series of Fighting 2 against former UFC whateverweight Anthony Johnson, in a battle that will surely earn the 2013 Minowaman Freak Show Hall of Fame Award. Also on the card: UFC vets Josh Burkman and Aaron Simpson throw down in the welterweight division, Paulo Filho hopefully shows up to fight David Branch, and Marlon Moraes returns from his win over Miguel Torres to face Bellator champ killer Tyson Nam.

Our man Oliver Chan is on the scene tonight at the Revel Casino, where he and photographer Rick Albrecht will be posting round-by-round updates, commentary, and visual aids after the jump, beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest from the NBC Sports Network main card broadcast, and let your voices be heard in the comments section.

(I believe that’s the universal puppy expression for “get me away from this crazy fucker.” / Photo via: sportv.globo.com)

World Series of Fighting took a major risk by putting Paulo Filho on the main card of its “Arlovski vs. Johnson” event this Saturday. Eccentric at best and tragically troubled at worst, the Brazilian cautionary tale has suffered countless career setbacks due to drug addiction, emotional breakdowns, and simple clerical errors. So maybe we should start preparing for the possibility that his scheduled match against David Branch might not happen. Let’s just call it a hunch — a hunch based on the fact that Filho missed his flight to Atlantic City on Tuesday due to a panic attack.

MMAFighting passed along that news last night, adding the following: “On Wednesday, though, Filho confirmed that he was on a plane headed to New Jersey, so as of Wednesday night, the Filho vs. Branch fight is still on.” Oh, Filho confirmed it? Well, then. Crisis averted. I’m sure he’s not hiding in an underground bunker somewhere deep within the Amazon rainforest, surrounded by boxes and boxes of sleeveless flannel shirts.

We’ll keep you posted if we hear more. I think at this point, a blown weigh-in and distracted performance would be a best-case scenario. The smart money’s still on “no-show,” though.

(According to legend, the million-dollar-bill-pitbull is a symbol representing the eternal struggle between Brazil’s elitist class and the unappreciated proletariat. Or it’s just something you get done when you’re really, really, high on shrooms.) 

Paulo Filho is kind of like the Lindsay Lohan of MMA. Sure, there was a time back in the early-to-mid 2000′s when he showed the potential for greatness (or at least mediocrity), but since then, it’s been a steady mixture of cocaine, terrible tattoos, and a series of cancelled fights punctuated by depressing performances in the ones he actually managed to show up for. Substitute “fights” with “films” and you’ve got yourself one surprisingly accurate comparison.

But just as Lohan continues to get acting gigs (this is acting, right?), Filho continues to convince fight promoters that he is a reliable human being in the loosest sense of the word. So despite the many, many warning signs, Filho has recently been booked against UFC veteran Dave Branch on the main card of the second World Series of Fighting event set to transpire March 23rd. As much as we’d like to believe Filho truly does have his shit together this time around, we simply can’t be burned by this flake again. This…this will not end well.

Featuring a headlining heavyweight matchup between Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson, WSOF 2 has also recently booked a pair of familiar faces against a couple unknown, undefeated prospects. Those newly announced matchups are after the jump…