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Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

In talking to fans and other reporters after UFC 84, there were two questions I kept hearing over and over: Which light heavyweight who fought that night will get the next shot at champion Quinton Rampage Jackson? And, Will lightweight champion B.J. Penn move up in class to fight welterweight champion Georges St.-Pierre?

Those are good questions, but aren't they overlooking something? Is everyone just assuming that Jackson will still be the champ after he fights Forrest Griffin at UFC 86, and that St.-Pierre will still be the champ after he fights Jon Fitch at UFC 87?

I think just about everyone is assuming that, and I'm not so sure that it's a wise assumption. Obviously, Jackson and St.-Pierre deserve to be the favorites, but it's not like Griffin and Fitch are pushovers. Griffin is coming off a very impressive victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who was the last person to beat Jackson. Fitch has won every fight he's been in for five years running.

So, although looking ahead to a Penn vs. St.-Pierre fight makes for fun speculation, and although there are about half a dozen UFC light heavyweights who could have great fights with Jackson, I wouldn't get too excited about those fights just yet. Griffin and Fitch will have something to say about this.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

In addition to sitting at Octagonside at UFC 84, I also paid a visit to the world's best-known MMA gym:

Video Link.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

After Hawaii's own B.J. Penn retained his lightweight title before a partisan crowd at UFC 84, UFC President Dana White indicated that it might not be long before Penn gets to fight in front of a crowd that would cheer him on even more enthusiastically.

White said in the post-event press conference that he hopes to arrange a show in Hawaii, some time in 2009, and to make it UFC's first foray into an outdoor stadium. The only issue is whether he can get the state to sanction the show; UFC doesn't host shows in states that don't regulate mixed martial arts.

"When we do an outdoor big stadium, it'll definitely be in Hawaii," White said.

Obviously, the headliner for such a show would have to be Penn, who, like Georges St.-Pierre in Montreal, would guarantee that the stadium would sell out easily and that the place would be rocking. This is a show that needs to happen.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

Here's what happened at the post-UFC 84 press conference, when Tito Ortiz came out to talk to the press before the press conference had officially started:

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Ortiz initially started answering reporters' questions, but a UFC official stepped in and asked him not to. Then reporters tried to question Ortiz again, and again it was stopped.

Finally, when all of the other fighters got there, Ortiz participated in the final post-event press conference, and there were more questions about the feud between Ortiz and UFC President Dana White than there were about the fight between Sean Sherk andB.J. Penn.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

I had a seat about 10 feet from the Octagon for Saturday night's UFC 84 show, and what I'll take away from it, more than anything else, is the sound. Punches land to faces with thuds. Kicks land to sides with thwacks. The Octagon itself turns into a drum when a fighter is slammed to the canvas.

I'll also remember the sheer noise of it all: The fighters' entrance music, the music played between fights, the introductions and the post-fight interviews were all pumped into the MGM Grand Garden Arena at earsplitting decibels. At 31, I must be older than the target UFC demographic, because I spent much of the night thinking the music was too loud. The guy next to me in press row wore earplugs.

My own reactions to the sounds aside, UFC 84 was terrific night of fights. A few other thoughts are below.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

After her boyfriend, Tito Ortiz, lost in UFC 84, Jenna Jameson talked to me about her thoughts on the fight:

Video link / Watch on YouTube

Jameson said she was pleased that the fans supported Ortiz, that she thinks Ortiz will be the star of another MMA organization now that he's leaving UFC, and that she feels both scared and proud when she watches him fight.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

UFC lightweight championB.J. Penn defended his title with a dominant third-round TKO Saturday night, leaving challenger Sean Sherk bloody, bruised, and hurting at the conclusion of UFC 84.

That picture above is of Sherk at his post-fight press conference, during which he claimed he felt OK and would be back in the Octagon soon. But he looked like a very different fighter than he was when we last saw him, 10 months ago. Sherk isn't a champion anymore.

Penn is. He simply dominated Sherk from start to finish. This was a great performance.

Also on FanHouse:
UFC 84 Video: Jenna Jameson on Tito Ortiz
UFC 84 Live Blog
UFC Gets Undercards Right
At UFC 84, a Pass Out but Not a Tap Out

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

Note: People planning to watch UFC 84 who don't want to know the results of the pre-taped undercard might want to skip this post.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

Although you can't shoot video inside a Nevada sports book, I got as close as I could:

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With just a few hours to go before UFC 84, people are lining up outside the MGM Grand sports book to place their bets. Most of the money is going toward lightweight championB.J. Penn, who is now better than a 2-1 favorite over challenger Sean Sherk.

Notes on a trip to Las Vegas.

Although he's not a star along the lines of Tito Ortiz or B.J. Penn, there was a sustained ovation for Jon Koppenhaver at Friday's UFC 84 weigh-in:

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The fan response to Koppenhaver is particularly interesting because Koppenhaver pleaded guilty to felony assault in connection with an incident last September. I've previously written that I thought a fighter with that kind of trouble out of the Octagon has the potential to damage the sport's reputation, but he's popular: Koppenhaver was featured last year on The Ultimate Fighter, and like many of the TUF fighters, he clearly has a loyal following.