Dana White: Tito Ortiz is a different person than he was back in the day. The boxing people know, there are those hanger-ons, I call them the cling-ons, the guys who latch on to up-and-coming stars, then when the fighter loses they all scurry like cockroaches in the light. Tito went through that. Tito has grown up and he showed a lot of heart tonight.

Tito Ortiz: I made a few mistakes. I thought I fought a smart fight, but Chuck hit me with a few overhand rights that I didn't see. Chuck doesn't get the credit he deserves as a wrestler, he fought off all my shots. Chuck is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now. I'll be back. He's beat me twice, I'll fight him 10 times if I have to. Liddell's 37, look what he does, he devastates people. I want to be the same way when I'm 37.

(on the stoppage) It could have gone either way. I wasn't really defending. I had my hands up to block that shots but that was about it. I could sit here and cry about it but I won't. Maybe I could have got out of it, but I didn't know where some of those punches coming from.

Chuck Liddell: I always go in confident. A week in, all my training's done and I'm ready to go. When it's fight night, all you have to do is execute. That's all I did. I think Tito's improved. I came out and he didn't give me any extra respect out there like the first fight. He fought a smart fight, but it wasn't enough.

Keith Jardine: My game plan was to put my head in (Forrest Griffin)'s chest and keep moving him back, and wait for an opening. It worked and I capitalized on it. A lot of people don't know what to thinkg of me because my fights are drawn out, up and down.

White on boxing promoters trying to get into MMA: Two years ago, the boxing types all said it can't last, they don't know what they're doing. Where are you now, boys? Now they smell the money and they're trying to get in. Good luck.

Andrei Arlovski: I am happy I bet Marcio Cruz. 2006 was not a good year for me. I lost two fights and my belt. I am glad to be back and want to be back in 2007 and I hope to get a chance to get my belt back.

Notes:

*Mikro Cro Cop is signed to a six-fight, two-year deal. Cro Cop's Feb. 3 fight will be against Eddie Sanchez.

*Filming of season five of The Ultimate Fighter begins on Jan. 20.

*UFC's first U.K. show is tentatively slated for late April.

*Liddell had the middle finger on his left hand in a splint, the rest of a torn tendon suffered in the fight. The splint will stay on for four weeks.

*Attendance at the MGM Grand was a sellout 14,607, with a gate of $5,397,000, the biggest North American MMA gate in history and nearly $2 million more than the previous mark.

Busy week for news. Just getting caught up to some of what's going on:

*The UFC announced they've purchased the World Fighting Alliance. Since the WFA is basically dead in the water, what that basically means is they have the option of picking up the contracts of the WFA fighters of their choosing. While the UFC isn't saying anything officially, it is well-known the two fighters of most value are Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt "The Law" Lindland.

*The new Showtime/Pro Elite MMA promotion is holding a press conference in Hollywood on Thursday. David "The Crow" Loiseau has signed with the group.

*Still no announcement from Mirko Cro Cop regarding his future.

*In the "using an elephant gun to kill a mosquito" department, California state athletic commission chairman Armando Garcia has suspended Josh Thomson for wearing a "Frank Glamrock is my b----" t-shirt to his fight at Friday night's Strike Force show in San Jose. All commission states must abide by the suspension.

Is wearing such a t-shirt a punk move? Yes. Should he be banned from fighting in the U.S. over it? Hell no. This is a stunning abuse of power on Garcia's part.

*The other item of note was the mixed martial arts piece on 60 Minutes last night.

Let's repeat this one last time for the record:

Dana White and UFC didn't create or implement the unified MMA rules. The New Jersey State Athletic Commission did in 2000.

Now, let's get over it.

The 60 Minutes piece might have been the best showcase for the sport ever produced on network television. It explained the history of the sport, it explained the role of the Gracie family, it showed the the subtleties of the action, it got guys like Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich, and Matt Hughes over as intelligent, thoughtful athletes, it even mentioned the studies done that show boxing to be more damaging than MMA.

All in all, it was the sort of segment hardcore MMA fans have wanted for years. But the reaction in some circles has been like a kid coming home from school with a 98% score on a test and their parents berating him for not getting 100%

New UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was asked last night who he would like to face next. His answer, through his interpreter? "I wish I could clone myself and fight me."

Who could blame him for coming to such a conclusion after his dominant performance at UFC 64? Silva stunned the crowd at Mandalay Bay by  dismantling someone thought to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game in Rich Franklin.

There will be lots of conjecture about Franklin's performance last night. Here are a couple things to ponder:

1. Was Franklin gun-shy after his long, injury-induced layoff? Franklin's match with David Loiseau was a war. Both came out of it hurt; Franklin tore a hamstring and broke a hand. Both Franklin and Loiseau looked tentative in their return fights.

2. Did Franklin let his ego get in the way in thinking he could match Silva toe-to-toe? Silva has never been knocked out or TKO'd in his career, but he has been taken down and submitted twice. Of course, this is easy for me to say sitting behind a computer screen after the fact.

As for what's next in the middleweight division, that's tough to say. The winner of the middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighter is guaranteed a title shot. Umm … good luck to him. Mike Swick is on the radar, but he didn't look ready for a title match in his win over Loiseau last month. Dana White was asked about the possibility of bringing Matt Lindland back, but, as White pointed out, Lindland is under contract to the IFL right now. Franklin, as the former champion, is deserving of a rematch. I think it is too soon to call Franklin overrated. Every fighter has his bad night, and the real test will come with how he responds to the setback.

*Ken Florian had one of those performances last night where you gain in stature by losing. No doubt Sherk won convincingly (I had it 49-46); but for a fighter with his experience level, Florian's jiu-jitsu was solid and he did his share of damage. Ironically, the cut over Sherk's eye ended up backfiring on Florian, as it may have enabled Sherk to slip out of his opponent's submission attempts. "It got me on that armbar," Florian said. "I thought I had it sunk in and I turned and he just slipped right out of it. The blood and sweat made it real hard to lock anything in."

*For new lightweight champion Sherk, the win was redemption. Not that long ago, Sherk walked away for nearly a year after giving his best and coming up just short as a welterweight. "I've been waiting for this moment for 12 years," said Sherk. "Ever since I saw the early UFCs and wanted to be a part of it, all the effort is worth it now."

*This is simply an observation and you can attach whatever meaning to it you wish. The following fighters were booed by a noticeable portion of the crowd last night: Yushin Okami, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Cheick Kongo, Silva. It wasn't the majority of the crowd, and maybe these fans were simply rooting for American fighters, but either way, it was an ugly display.

*White talked about UFC's plans to run 26 shows in 2007, including five pay-per-views from the United Kingdom. UFC needs to guard against overexposure. Our reader response to UFC 64 was down from any PPV we've covered. That's not an exact science, but would seem to indicate with lots of shows to choose from in a short period of time, some people decided to skip this one.

Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Matt Hughes are the biggest draws in the UFC. UFC 64 came just three weeks after Hughes fought at UFC 63 and four days after Ortiz-Shamrock III. UFC 64 also happened with viewers knowing the next two PPVs feature highly anticipated showdowns with  Hughes-Georges St. Pierre and Ortiz-Liddell, and with next week's PRIDE show on the horizon (incidentally, White said he will attend the PRIDE show).

*White also said the next season of The Ultimate Fighter will focus exclusively in the lightweight division.

*Finally, White in his upcoming three-round boxing match against Ortiz: "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done. I'm too old for this. I'm going to go ahead and do this because Tito insisted on this as part of his contract and I'm going to live up to my end of the deal."

Joe Lauzon isn't ready to rest on his laurels. The E. Bridgewater, MA native scored an upset for the ages at UFC 63  at the Pond in Anaheim last weekend when he TKOd former lightweight champion Jens "Little Evil" Pulver in just 48 seconds.

But the 22-year old who makes "Fear No Evil" his moniker is staying humble and getting right back to work.

"One win doesn't make you," he said. "I still have a long way to go and a lot of things I have to work on, so I'm going right back to my training."

Lauzon attracted little attention going into the show. He was simply supposed to be an opponent for what was hyped as Pulver's homecoming. But Lauzon said he didn't mind being overlooked.

"No, I didn't look at it like I was being disrespected," he said. "Looking at it, he's the champ, I deserve to be in there, but I definitely see why I was the underdog. No problem there."

And no problem from there. Lauzon pushed the pace from the get-go with a quick takedown, and after a re-start commenced the assault that caused the left hook which ended the fight.

"We were planning to push the pace, but I definitely didn't expect that outcome, we were trying to use our hands to set up the takedown a little bit, and get him heavy with the lead foot so we took him down.

"I was trying to throw flurries to get him to cover up and take him down again and it got through. Threw a right and followed up with a left out of habit and it just connected."

The victory means Lauzon has earned respect and will be taken seriously in the UFC's lightweight division. It also means UFC president Dana White has to pay up on a bet. One of Lauzon's trainers, Steve Maze, predicted the knockout, and White told Maze he'd let Maze drive his Ferrari if it came to pass. "Well I won, so now Steve gets to drive Dana's Ferrari," said Lauzon. "He hasn't driven it yet, but he will when we go out to Vegas next time."

For his part, Pulver took his loss like a man, and even expressed some relief at getting his first UFC loss out of the way.

"He ran right over me," said Pulver. "I got beat, no excuses. This gives me a bit of release, OK, I've lost in the octagon. My hat's off to Joe. He came out with no fear whatsoever and he caught me. As soon as I can get back, I want to fight again."

Some quotes of note from the UFC's media day in Anaheim:

Jason Lambert, on finally getting a chance on the main PPV card: I just quit my job so I can fight full-time. I'm not a big predictions guy, but it should be a good fight. The cameras, the fans and everything are still there so there really is no difference. It's still a fight.

David Loiseau, on the aftermath of his fight with Rich Franklin: I was depressed for about a week. I ate a lot of hamburgers. But then I got up and got back in the gym. From the second round on, I had trouble seeing. But I kept fighting. I showed warrior spirit. I fought all the way through five rounds. This sport isn't about getting knocked down, it is about whether you get back up.

Dana White: BJ (Penn)'s talked about fighting lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight, super heavyweight. A couple months ago he was looking like a super heavyweight.

B.J. Penn: Yeah, a couple months ago people were calling me "Cabbage."

Matt Hughes, on the fight with Royce Gracie: "I don't see this as some sort of great win. I beat a guy that 90 percent of the fighters today in the welterweight division could have won. I don't see it as I beat this great legend."

White: Way to kill a promotion. This guy is a promotion killer.

Hughes: Dana, you got what you wanted out of that fight.

Joe Lauzon, on going unnoticed: That's fine with me. Let everyone talk about Jens. I want all the focus to be on him. I know this is my first time in the big leagues, but I'm blocking everything out and just treating this like any other fight.

And finally, a thought for the day: If UFC fighter pay is half as bad as everyone seems to assume, why have so many fighters who left the UFC on bad terms -- from Tito Ortiz to B.J. Penn to Jens Pulver -- returned to the promotion when there are so many other options out there? Hint: It's not because they love Dana White.

Got a ton of reader feedback in the MMA Forum to yesterday's Weekly Tapout. Here's some of what you guys had to say. Keep in mind each email represents the opinion of the individual author:

Dane in Orlando: I am finally excited about the fight game again. After years of watching boxing get more and more boring with lackluster cards and average talent it is great to see another genre take charge and give a guy a decent fight to watch on a regular basis. Thank you Dana White. Also, there is no athlete as entertaining as Tito Ortiz in any sport. You gotta love this guy.

Tony in Orange, CA: I would have to mirror alot of what Dana White said about boxing. I remember paying $50 to watch Tyson knockout some patsy in less than one minute. What a rip off, mostly because the undercards were third rate. With the UFC, especially, you get quality undercards for the true MMA fan, and the new, or casual fan alike. As a BJJ practioner/sub wrestler I can relate to whats going on, I can see the strategy, and I can see the moves that are open, and most of all, after the event I dont feel as if I have been ripped off.

Derek in Yakima, WA: I've been an MMA fan for about 10 years now and have watched UFC and PRIDE. Although I really enjoy both companies, I truly believe that Pride has better fighters from top to bottom. Typically the fights are more action-packed and the international flavor gives PRIDE more watchability. As good as Chuck Liddell and Tim Sylvia are, I truly believe that Wanerlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko are better pound-for-pound fighters. And let's not forget that Rampage already beat Chuck. Hollywood Dan Henderson, Gomi, and Rua are no joke either. I would love to see a UFC vs. Pride tournament to settle it once and for all, but since this probably won't happen, I'll just continue to believe that these are factual opinions. I also think that the Japanese fight fans have more repect for the sport and it's fighters. Not once have I heard the fans boo a PRIDE fighter. It is very unfair that any fight fan boo an athlete who has trained so hard to give them an exciting show. This has become all too common in UFC as well as boxing. This was very evident after Forrest got the decision against Bonnar. Those guys both layed it on the line and the fans showed no appreciation. Yes I'll agree that the second fight wasn't as exciting as the first, but the fight was much more technically sound. Maybe it's just an American thing to boo fighters, but it's totally disrespectful, and fight fans shouldn't act so ignorant. After all this isn't professional wrestling.

Buddah in Vallejo, CA: Dana White is the Vince McMahon of MMA great promoter and great marketing strategies behind it. I'm still waiting for Hulk Hogan vs. Ken Shamrock fight or even better Dana White vs Vince McMahon.

Valentino in Fort Worth: I think the UFC is still the best thing going regardless of some fights not being as explosive as some people feel they should be. Being an ex-boxer, I know these guys don't half-#### train so they can go into the octogan and look like garbage. They don't hand out "almost won" trophies or continue to hand out "almost won" paychecks. Dana White and company is doing an excellent job of providing top-notch fights with top-notch fighters. Weeding the also-rans is part of the process. Regardless of what we do in life (good or bad), there will always be consequences and repercussions.