FanHouse UFC85

ESPN's MMA Live is back for an episode that reviews UFC 85:

The show starts with a discussion of Thiago Alves and his failure to make weight for his fight with Matt Hughes. In my book, it's clear: Alves has to beat a top contender at 170 -- not 174 -- before he deserves a welterweight title fight.

They also question whether questionable officiating marred UFC 85, and they discuss the possibility that Strikeforce will put live shows on NBC. It's another solid program, and a reminder that ESPN has the ability to provide great MMA coverage, even if that coverage rarely makes it to TV.

Here's a look at the post-fight comments from Thiago Alves and Matt Hughes after Alves' convincing victory at UFC 85:

Hughes sounded resigned to the fact that the two younger welterweights who have beaten him in his two last fights -- Alves and Georges St.-Pierre -- will always be better than him. But he also sounded confident that he can remain a competitive fighter in UFC. I say, more power to him.

Thiago Alves put together an undeniably impressive performance in defeating Matt Hughes by second-round TKO Saturday at UFC 85.

But that came a little more than 24 hours after a disgraceful performance at the weigh-in, where Alves showed up weighing 174 pounds -- four pounds over the welterweight limit that he and Hughes agreed to fight at. Four pounds absolutely does make a difference, and Alves looked bigger and stronger than Hughes all night.

So what on earth was UFC thinking when it gave Alves the $50,000 knockout of the night bonus? To reward a fighter who doesn't make weight is completely nonsensical. UFC ought to have a policy that fighters who don't make weight aren't eligible for bonus money.

Welcome to the FanHouse live blog of UFC 85, where we'll be providing live, round-by-round updates of every fight on the main card.

The main event was supposed to be a welterweight fight between Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves, although Alves didn't make weight, so while the fight will go on, it will technically not be fought at welterweight.

Appearing on the televised undercard are Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day, Mike Swick vs. Marcus Davis, Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera and Nathan Marquardt vs. Thales Leites.

The show starts at 3 p.m. Eastern, live from London, and live updates begin after the jump.

Beginning today at 1 p.m. we'll be chatting about tomorrow's UFC 85 event. Join me then as we talk about Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day, Mike Swick vs. Marcus Davis, Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera and whether this card is worth your pay-per-view dollars.

Episode 4 of ESPN.com's MMA Live is another good one:

The crew started, of course, talking about the EliteXC show on CBS. Although analyst Kenny Florian did note that the quality of EliteXC's fighting was "sub-par," he bucked the UFC company line by saying, "Overall, I think it was a success. ... Any time we get more people watching mixed martial arts I think it's a good thing."

They then turned their attention to WEC 34, especially the great technical fight that Urijah Faber put together, and had Faber on as a guest. Faber said that he injured both hands against Jens Pulver, but that neither is broken and that he thinks they'll heal completely.

Matt Hughes then joined the show to promote his upcoming fight at UFC 85. Overall, yet another solid episode of MMA Live.

Here's a very good video previewing UFC 85, especially the Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves main event:

Hughes made an interesting point when he said, "I'm used to a five-round fight, and it's a three-round fight. I train the same."

Because he was either the welterweight champion or the challenger for the title for so long, most of Hughes' recent fights have been title fights, which are five rounds, rather than non-title fights, which are three rounds. Of his last 16 fights, Hughes was training for five rounds 13 times. And yet he says his approach is the same when the fight can only last three rounds.

I like the respect that the 24-year-old Alves shows for the 34-year-old Hughes in the video. There's a lot to like about Alves, and I'd love to see him become one of the sport's big stars, but I'm just not sure that he's ready to beat a guy of Hughes' skill just yet.

Saturday's UFC 85 has been a star-crossed event, with one injury after another (most notably to Chuck Liddell) derailing UFC's plans. But it's a testament to the depth of UFC's roster that they've still managed to cobble together a good show -- one that won't match UFC 84 for star power but will make for a great few hours of fights on Saturday afternoon.

Here are the details for Saturday's action:

What: UFC 85: Bedlam

Who: The main event features Matt Hughes taking on Thiago Alves in a battle of the ages. Appearing on the televised undercard are Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day, Mike Swick vs. Marcus Davis, Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera and Nathan Marquardt vs. Thales Leites.

When: Saturday, 3 p.m. ET

Where: O2 Arena, London

How: Pay-per-view, $44.95 ($54.95 in HD), or just follow along with my FanHouse live blog. Also be sure to catch my UFC 85 preview chat on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

Predictions after the jump.

UFC 85, which takes place June 7 in London, has been something of a star-crossed event, with many of the fighters who were supposed to participate (most notably Chuck Liddell) having to pull out because of injuries. So UFC is now promoting the show as a battle of the ages:

The official promotional video makes sure to note that the main event features 34-year-old Matt Hughes against 24-year-old Thiago Alves, and the fight could set up as something of a proving ground for Alves: Beating Hughes would be by far the biggest victory of his career, and it would establish him as an up-and-comer who is younger than champion Georges St. Pierre and who could get a title shot soon.

And one of the reasons that UFC is such a well-run organization is that when UFC is setting up a young, up-and-coming fighter like Alves, it doesn't just hand him easy opponents. A 24-year-old boxer with championship potential would be padding his record against cupcakes. Alves is fighting Hughes, who's still one of the half dozen or so best welterweights in the world. For a show that has lost so many good fighters to injuries, UFC 85 still has an intriguing main event.

With just two weeks between events, UFC is putting UFC 84 in the rear-view mirror and wasting no time in promoting UFC 85:

They're trying as hard as they can to hype UFC 85 by calling Matt Hughes the greatest welterweight of all time and noting that Thiago Alves is on a five-fight winning streak, but the truth is that this promotional video also serves as a reminder that UFC 85 is one of the weaker pay-per-view cards the organization has offered.

I'm sure it'll be an entertaining slate of fights, but coming just two weeks after a great slate of fights at UFC 84, and after EliteXC and WEC cards on free TV and basic cable, I'm not sure that many MMA fans are all that excited about UFC 85.