Prior to his bout last Saturday night at WEC 47, Anthony Pettis spoke with MMA Madness, telling us not to expect the usual “Showtime” in the cage against Danny Castillo.

“I’ve got a game plan for this fight. I’m gonna stick to it and get the win,” said Pettis, detailing his plan to do whatever it took to get the win, including toning down his tactics. “The next fight, I can come out and be “Showtime” again.”

While giving his fans a highlight they’ll never forget may not have been on the list of things to do heading into Saturday night, Pettis earned himself an extra $10,000 courtesy of a first round head kick that instantly won Knockout of the Night. So much for keeping “Showtime” under wraps.

“The game plan was to keep it basic,” laughs Pettis at the insinuation that he may have been putting up a front. “I just saw the opening every time I was throwing punches. If the hands can’t reach him, the foot can, and that’s what happened.”

Happened it did. Just 2:17 into the first round, Pettis connected with a perfectly-timed head kick, catching Castillo mid-punch and sending the Team Alpha Male member to the canvas and a second-straight loss. The victory put Pettis back in the win column…and the gym.

“I spoke with (WEC matchmaker) Sean Shelby,” Pettis begins, “and he said stay ready and you’re going to be called back soon.” While no specifics were given, the message was enough to send Pettis to the gym Monday morning. Does the Milwaukee, WI,  native have anyone in mind for his next fight?

“You know, I’d love to get that Bart fight,” suggests Pettis, referring to a rematch with the only man to beat him, fellow WEC 47 winner Bart Palaszewski. “But right now, I’m in the situation where I have to take whoever they put in front of me.”

One opponent the WEC could potentially put in front of the up-and-comer is former Lightweight champion Jamie Varner.

Originally scheduled to face Kamal Shalorus on the brand’s first pay-per-view event next month, the former Olympian was forced to withdraw due to injury, leaving Varner without a challenger.

“I didn’t know [Kamal Shalorlus] got hurt,” a surprised Pettis offers, before answering “Hell yes” to whether he would be interested in meeting the former champion from Arizona Combat Sports. While Varner would be a serious jump in competition for a fighter with less than ten professional bouts on his resume, Pettis knows the benefits a win would bring.

“A win against Varner would put me right in the tippy-top,” Pettis begins, thinking about the possibility of becoming a part of the pay-per-view portion of the WEC 48 broadcast.

Regardless of whether he appears on the card or not, Pettis will be making the trip to Sacramento for the company’s next event. Whether in the stands or in the dressing room, “Showtime” will get a chance to see some of the fighters ahead of him in the lightweight rankings put in work, including a battle between Anthony Njoukani and Shane Roller.

“I actually met [Njokuani] this weekend in Ohio,” mentions Pettis. “He’s a really cool dude. I definitely see Roller trying to shoot and take him down, but I’m predicting Njokuani by KO or TKO, man.” It’s hard to argue with the prediction, as Njokuani is coming off a victory over IFL veteran Chris Horodecki and has won three straight.

“I think Horodecki just forgot you can’t break and turn away in MMA,” Pettis adds, recalling the head kick that followed from “The Assassin,” ending the young Canadian’s night.

After Saturday night, Njokuani isn’t the only Anthony WEC lightweights need to watch for head kick finishers from any more.

Set your DVR. “Showtime” is back on the air.

Yeah, I think so.

If you like movies and you like MMA, you’re going to love Unrivaled, which hits the shelves this Tuesday on DVD/Blu Ray and features former UFC Light Heavyweight Champs Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, in addition to Keith Jardine and Nate Marquardt.

The premise of the movie is a ‘down on his luck fighter’ who gets the opportunity to take on the world champion, but if he loses, his life is like the former EliteXC: done.

Wait…you need more of an incentive? I thought you were an MMA fan! Head to Twitter.com/UnrivaledDVD and follow them for the change to win signed gear from top fighters.

Look for an interview from one of the stars of the silver screen – Mr. Griffin himself – here on the Madness in the next few days.

Unrivaled…get it Tuesday!

Add into the mix that WEC 47 pulled in only 373,000 viewers on Versus this past Saturday night and you have two events in the span of fourteen days that failed to meet the lofty standards set by Zuffa, the parent company of both organizations.

While the numbers are bad by company standards, they don’t quite merit the “Signs of Impending Danger” approach being taken by Kid Nate at Bloody Elbow and other MMA news sites across the Internet. At least not in my estimation.

Contributing editor Josh Nason explained earlier in the week why the numbers from WEC 47 shouldn’t be that alarming. In terms of a Faber-less event, 373,000 viewers isn’t all that bad, which brings us to the UFC.

The revelation that events featuring title fights bring in far more viewers than those devoid of championship bouts is as groundbreaking a conclusion as water being wet. A sizable chunk of the PPV-purchasing population are completely oblivious to the fact that “UFC” and “MMA” are not interchangeable, so the chances of them getting overly excited for a card headlined by anyone outside of the Georges St. Pierre / Brock Lesnar power duo is asking too much.

Hardcore fans are going to tune in no matter who is atop the marquee, but casual viewers want names they can recognize. (It’s like going to the movies. You remember that old-timey entertainment activity of days gone by, don’t you?) Small budget indie flicks with lesser known stars are often far more interesting and enjoyable, but it’s the big name, big action blockbusters of the world that bring in the crowds. The same applies to UFC pay-per-views.

The build-up to the event also plays a serious part in how many people purchase the fights, and lately, not many people other than Dana White have been looking forward to these UFC shows. Beginning with UFC 102 and through last month’s UFC 109, there has been a stream of complaints, criticisms and calls for cancellation attached to each event. How well can we expect an event to do when the people who spend their days covering the sport aren’t all that keen on watching the fights?

Of course the casual fans aren’t going to drop $50 on an event when a large percentage of the MMA media is telling them not to and they’ve never heard of the two guys fighting in the main event. Why is this alarming?

“Hey, want to spend our hard-earned money on a fight card full of guys we don’t know and even the experts are mercilessly panning on the Internet?”

What makes this all the more interesting – at least to me – is that the UFC is prepared to come back full-force with their next event, one that will surely surpass the 600,000 buy benchmark the company has established and could push a million at the end of the day.

Loading up with both elements of a successful event – big name fighters and championship belts – the build-up to UFC 111 has already been far greater than anything we’ve seen in the last ten events. The first episode of UFC Primetime attracting more than a million viewers to Spike TV Tuesday night. If the previous collection of shows was an indication that the sky is falling, shouldn’t this already serves as a sign that things may not be as bad as they seem?

While UFC 112 will have the tough task of being an international event broadcast mid-day in North America, the big names and title belts will once again be on display in Abu Dhabi, with both Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn putting their gold on the line. Penn headlined the only two events in the past ten that eclipsed the UFC standard, so the addition of Silva should make it safe to assume that UFC 112 will also put up a good number.

With Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua meeting in their highly-anticipated rematch – not to mention the inclusion of one Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson – at UFC 113, and the long-overdue battle between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans finally taking place at UFC 114, there is a very good chance that the UFC will be riding a wave of four consecutive above-average events into UFC 115 in Vancouver this June.

The sky won’t have fallen, the trends will have been reversed and casual fans will still be far more interested in the seven-to-ten big name fighters they know than a collection of talented guys they’ve never heard of before.

Title fights will still do better than non-title fights, and water will most-assuredly still be wet.

Based on information received from sources close to the situation, Ryan Bader, CB Dolloway and Aaron Simpson have left Arizona Combat Sports.

Simpson responded via text, stating, “It’s all up in the air right now. I can’t say exactly, but I’m hoping to have news in a couple of weeks.”

The move by the three UFC competitors and Arizona State alums comes at a curious time as all are coming off the biggest wins of their careers. Bader defeated Keith Jardine via third round TKO at UFC 110, Dolloway took home a unanimous decision that same night against Goran Reljic and Simpson defeated Tom Lawlor at UFC Fight Night 20 in January.

Simpson was the assistant coach at Arizona State University while Bader, Dolloway and UFC heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez attended the school.

Check back for more information as it becomes available.

Last Saturday’s loss to Javier Vazquez at WEC 47 may very well be the end of an era, signaling the last time Jens Pulver puts the gloves on and competes in a mixed martial arts bout. Even if Pulver never fights again, he has plenty of battles he wants to wage outside of the cage. With a new gym and a new clothing line just getting its feet on the ground, Pulver has plenty to keep him busy.

But that will not be enough for him. He needs to do more.

After a talk with Pulver, one has the feeling of wanting to go out and volunteer somewhere. He has a unique and amazing perspective on his career, his life and the sport, but after suffering his fifth defeat in a row and seventh in his last eight fights, what is his emotional state of mind?

How are things right now and where are you at in your life/career?

I am feeling kind of torn right now. It hurts to have lost seven of my last eight fights and that makes me feel bad. Then I think about the way I fought and it makes me think if I did things just a bit differently, the outcome could have been different. It is what it is. I felt great. I had started lifting again. I had three months in my new gym and got to train with Tony Fryklund again after about five years of training by myself.

Everyone is worried about my legacy, but I look at it like I’m in a slump right now. Baseball players go into slumps and they bounce back I feel like I could bounce back. I love to train, I love the sport and I love to fight. I’m in a tough position. I don’t want to keep putting my fans through this, so I am feeling kind of stuck.

Even though I have been losing, I am gaining so much in life. I try so hard to be the opposite of my dad and my brother, who is serving 55 years in prison. I’m learning how to run a gym and be a coach so it’s difficult to dedicate 100% to fighting. I feel like I’m on the right path at 34 years old. I felt like my aggression was there and I was going after it, but I got caught in an armbar by a great grappler.

Any regrets or concerns about not leaving the sport when it’s the right time?

The only thing I’m afraid of is leaving too early, only because I really enjoy competing. The sport has evolved so much and all of these skilled athletes have shot right by me. I remember Josh Grispi telling me he remembers watching me when he was in the sixth grade. I may have been the guy who motivated him to even pick up a pair of gloves. I feel like if I leave, I feel like I’ll be leaving incomplete.

I’m not worried about tarnishing a legacy. My legacy is this, me, the emotional kid, the kid that pioneered this sport. I was the first guy to win the UFC lightweight championship. I beat the top guys when I was 25-28. If I leave now, I will be leaving earlier than I really want to, but at the same token, I’m fighting the elite guys continuously and I’m just not an elite athlete anymore. The questions is can I get back to that level.

Those are the issues I’m hanging my hat on right now, because at 34, I don’t feel like I’m putting myself at risk. I am not getting knocked out. I have never had a trainer break out the smelling salts. I’m usually standing when the ref is calling the fight off. Now that I am training at this new place, I feel like I’ve got that fire back. All it takes is one little mistake when you are fighting the elite fighters of today.

I believe my health is perfectly fine. When I first started fighting, if you were stand-up, you were stand-up. If you were a ground fighter, that’s where you fought. Today’s fighters do it all and they excel at it. I am learning as I go and I am really enjoying it.

I interviewed WEC lightweight Jamie Varner not too long ago and he said that you have done more for this sport than just about anyone else, and no one has the right to tell you that you shouldn’t fight anymore. Thoughts on the admiration that you’ve got from so many people in the industry?

When I first started, I was out there starting a weight class that let them know that, “Hey, maybe this guy’s not too small to be competing in MMA.” Look at where the sport is now. The smaller guys are just as important than the bigger guys. I was told many times that I was too small, but I kept lighting people up and made my case. So if another fighter is grateful, then that makes it all worth it.

I love the Zuffa family, I love Dana White, I love being with this organization, but they may hang it up for me. What can I do? The fans make it worth it as well as they gave me a bigger ovation than any other fighter on Saturday night…that really blew my mind. When I walked back to the locker room, the crowd went wild, then when the guys did an impromptu thank you, it made me tear up. I am very appreciative and I have never for one minute taken that for granted.

I have always loved what I’ve done and I feel like a proud papa. I love these guys and I love the sport. I will always be a part of it. I want to help these fighters at the next stage, because we have a lot of life to live after fighting. I want to keep pioneering, I want to help these guys survive when their careers are over. I tell people to enjoy themselves and create a good story. I don’t sit back and think about the admiration. I think about all the traveling I’ve done. I think about all the people I’ve met. I feel like I’m right where I need to be. I’m extremely happy. If I could, I’d fight once a month. I’d tear it up.

Your gym is off to a good start and so is your t-shirt company. What should we know?

If you look at the clothing, we are not fight gear. We’re not knuckle-up fighting. We’re life gear. We have a military and civil servants line for all of the police, fire and military personnel. We feel that anger is a gift. It’s about taking that anger and proving all the naysayers wrong. I’m gonna prove to myself that I can change my scars and that I’m not a loser. It’s about what drives you everyday. That’s why the gym is called Driven. Hopefully we can grow and spread the message more.

If your fighting career is done, what do you think you would do? What other interests do you have?

I’d love to get into motivational speaking, but I don’t know how. I just spoke at a local high school to an entire assembly. I had a great time talking to all the kids. I spoke about my life and I signed autographs. Then faculty asked me to sit with them and talk to them. They asked me to show them how to get the kids to respect them. When I talk to anyone about my career, I don’t talk about fighting. I talk about the sport, I talk about training and I try and promote a healthy lifestyle because it leads to healthy living and being able to go after your dreams.

I have issues. I have problems, but I still keep pushing. Who knows where we will be in a year? I tell people to never close any doors…who knows what tomorrow will bring. Now that I am a coach, I let these kids know that I am here for whatever they need. I want them to always have a place to go to. It’s my turn to help people out.

Is commentating with the WEC something you’d like to keep doing or would it be too close to the action?

I would love to, but again, I have to wait for that call. I just sit here. I’ve been managed by Monte Cox my whole life. I got to learn how to figure this part out. My hats off to Tito Ortiz…he’s a businessman. I wish I had grabbed some business sense, but I’m learning. I would love to commentate again. I would never say no, but I hope they bring me back. I’d rock the sweater vest again and do it proudly. I like to commentate like I am with my friends.

I don’t need to know every jiu-jitsu move out there. I don’t have to put on a shirt and tie. That’s not me. At the end of the day, I would love to speak publicly, I would love to commentate. I’m not sure what anyone wants from me, I guess I’ll have to figure it out for myself.

That version of Primetime averaged just under 800k viewers per episode, maxing out at 880,000 viewers for the first episode. The latest incarnation didn’t disappoint as Dan Hardy proved to be a likable character and the cliffhanger ending of Hardy showing up at Matt Serra’s gym was a great way to end the show.

Rosholt’s Return

Jake Rosholt announced on Twitter that he will be facing another former UFC middleweight when he meets Jeremy Horn at a King of the Cage event in Detroit on April 16. Rosholt has one fight since being cut from the UFC, a win over Rudy Lindsey at an Xtreme Fighting League event on March 6.

The four-time All-American wrestler will have to be careful when he takes Horn down. Horn has won an amazing 53 fights by way of submission and may prove to be too experienced for Rosholt. King of the Cage will air live on HDNET.

Barnett’s Next Battle

Sports Illustrated’s Josh Gross reported on his Twitter account that Josh Barnett will be facing “Mighty” Mo Siligia at Dream 13 on March 22. Barnett has been out of action since January of last year when he defeated Gilbert Yvel at Affliction: Day of Reckoning. Since that time, he tested positive for steroids which killed a bout with Fedor Emelianenko and Affliction’s MMA promotion.

Mighty Mo is a kickboxer who sometimes dabbles in mixed martial arts. He holds a 3-1 record in MMA and hasn’t competed in the sport since losing to Semmy Schilt on New Year’s Eve in 2008. Dream 13 is scheduled to air on HDNET and will be headlined by a featherweight title bout between champion Bibiano Fernandes and Joachim Hansen.

Shine On

Shine Fights has announced a welterweight matchup between UFC veteran Nick “The Goat” Thompson and Eduardo Pamplona. The press release stated that the two will battle it out on the main card of “Worlds Collide”: Mayorga vs. Thomas on May 15. Thompson has bounced around recently between EliteXC, Strikeforce, MFC and WVR.

Pamplona’s biggest fight of his career came against Robbie Lawler while the two were in the IFL. Lawler earned a third round TKO victory. The main event will mark the MMA debut of former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga as he takes on former UFC lightweight contender Din Thomas.

A preview video for UFC 112 has been released. Next month’s event is a month away and features Middleweight Champ Anderson “The Spider” Silva vs. Demian Maia and Lightweight Champion BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar. This event will mark the first time the UFC has held an event in Abu Dhabi and in an outdoor arena.

We here at MMA Madness wanted to take the time to pay homage to Charles “Mask” Lewis, who one year ago today died in an unfortunate car accident. Mask was a man among boys and was a visionary, who was able to see through all of the trials and tribulations that mixed martial artists were going through. Lewis inspired so many people and gave hope to fighters who were on the verge of giving up.

Without Mask, there’d be no TapouT and more importantly, the world of MMA would have never turned out the way it has. Rest in peace Mask. You can read E. Spencer Kyte’s thoughts on him here.

A Gracie in Strikeforce

MMA Junkie is reporting that Roger Gracie will be making his long awaited debut with Strikeforce on May 15 in St. Louis. Two opponents are being talked about, but neither has been confirmed: former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman and former Pride and UFC light heavyweight Rameau Thierry Sokodjou.

Gracie has only competed in two MMA bouts, winning both of them, but has long been regarded as one of the top grapplers in the world. He is a 2005 ADCC champion and a 2nd degree black belt.

Weighing In On Massachusetts

The state of Massachusetts – which recently legalized mixed martial arts – has passed a regulation that will call for two separate weigh-ins. The first would occur no more than 36 hours before the bout is scheduled to take place and the second weigh-in would happen the night of the fight. These are the same rules that the state applies for a boxing match. The regulation would call for an immediate disqualification of a fighter was to weigh more than 1.0625 times than the initial weigh-in.

For example, if a fighter were to weigh in at 170 lbs, then he could not weigh more than 180.625 lbs the day of the fight. This provision is put in place to stop fighters from going through unhealthy weight cuts.

The UFC will be meeting with the commission to discuss these matters, but UFC executive Marc Ratner said that these rules would not stop the UFC from staging events in the state of Massachusetts. Inf fact, he said North Carolina does not allow any particular fighter to gain more than 13 lbs between the two weigh-ins. (Thanks to Sherdog for the report.)

GSP: Comedian

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is not one to talk trash and for the most part, is a gentleman and has respect for the sport and his opponents. In an interview conducted with MMA Connected, St. Pierre said something extremely funny. Take a look at the video and listen for the Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake reference.

Charles Lewis Jr., better known to many as “Mask” from the legendary TapouT crew, was killed in the early morning hours of March 11, 2009. He was 46 years old.

When I started writing about MMA full-time, I had little knowledge of the history of the company Lewis founded alongside longtime friend Dan “PunkAss” Caldwell. His posthumous induction into the UFC Hall of Fame seemed strange at the time. I’m proud to admit that I was very, very wrong.

Lewis was far more than a guy with a painted face who just sold t-shirts. He was a pioneer, selling shirts from the trunk of his car long before wearing MMA apparel became haute couture. He was an investor, putting the money he and partners “PunkAss” and Tim “SyScrape” Katz earned back into the sport to help it grow and provide for fighters who rocked the TapouT logo in the ring.

He was also a fan – perhaps one of the biggest fans of them all.

Not a single UFC event went by where you didn’t see Lewis and the rest of the TapouT crew sitting ringside, posing for pictures, signing autographs and taking in the action in the Octagon. They supported everyone from the headlining acts to the guys grinding out a living in regional shows across the country.

Lewis loved the sport and gave his all to it, earning him a place in the pantheon of MMA pioneers, even though he never stepped into the cage to compete.

One year after his death, Lewis is more than just a fallen figure in the sport I love. He’s an inspiration and a reminder that passion and persistence towards your dream is never wasted effort.

Thank you, Mask… for everything.

You’re sadly missed.

R.I.P. Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. (June 23, 1963 – March 11, 2009)

In case you didn’t hear, the ratings came out for Saturday’s WEC 47 event and they weren’t necessarily great. The event had a total of 373,000 viewers which equals to a 42% drop from their last event, January’s WEC 46.

Before you start freaking out and preparing for the end of the WEC or placing bets on when the UFC absorbs them whole, stop and breath a minute. Here are five things to consider when looking at the rating:

1) It was on a Saturday night.

The UFC is a great draw on Saturday nights, but the WEC isn’t ready for that yet. There’s a major difference in that UFC is not just a sporting event, but an event that people plan around and make parties of. The WEC? Ehhhh, not so much. Fridays and Saturdays are a tough draw for regular TV anyway as people are traditionally out and about. WEC isn’t a ‘go to the bar and watch’ spectacle, so the rating was undoubtedly going to be down.

A better option? Stick to Sundays. It’s a great capper for the weekend and you’re not going to have a competition from other MMA organizations. Other than an occasional WWE pay-per-view to battle or something like the Oscars, the WEC would be in the clear. It worked so well before, so why change now?

2) Comparing it to WEC 46 isn’t fair.

WEC 46 was on (surprise!) a Sunday in mid-January and featured Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson vs. Jamie Varner and Urijah Freakin’ Faber in the co-main event. It may not feel like it at times, but Faber is well-known to the mainstream MMA fan – some of who watch WEC just for him alone. The card also had Mike Brown and was well-promoted as a whole thanks to the hype and push at UFC 108.

The WEC 47 event didn’t have anywhere close to that much star power, which leads to our third point.

3) The WEC doesn’t have a ton of star power.

Without a doubt, Faber is the organization’s biggest star. After that? It’s a tight race between Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, Jens Pulver and Miguel Torres with Henderson and Donald Cerrone starting to enter into the mix.

You might be asking how Pulver is a star (hear that reaction Sunday?) or screaming that Aldo is dominant (he’s on the path, but not there yet) or thinking that I’m completely wrong on this in general and everything is fine.

But let’s face facts: the WEC doesn’t draw as much interest as the UFC. They’re on a network that is still growing. They have younger stars who aren’t that established outside the hardcore community. That doesn’t mean they eventually can’t be, but they’re not right now.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s just fact.

People don’t know Brian Bowles. They sure as hell don’t know Dominick Cruz. A title match isn’t enough to draw viewers, which is why having Torres and Pulver on the card helped…even if both of them lost badly.  Of course there was going to be a drop off in ratings. How could you expect otherwise?

4) This doesn’t spell doom for the WEC PPV.

This is simply a dumb thought. They are not even related because you have STAR POWER with Faber/Aldo and Henderson/Cerrone II. The hardcores will buy the show on that alone and honestly, you’re not going to get a ton of new viewers anyway.

I’ve read that if WEC gets 60,000 buys for the event, they’ll be ecstatic. Quick math: that would be 16% of what they got Saturday night. I think they’re safe with that, don’t you?

It’s not wrestling where they have complete creative control and can really pull the strings with ratings if all the pieces come together. Every MMA event can be different and with those two fights heading up the PPV, that’s a great foundation to build on.

If there’s anything to be concerned about with the WEC PPV, it’s the price but that ship has sailed a long time ago.

5) Versus will be fine with the rating.

Given all of the above, Versus Network will be A-OK. Who cares if its the 2nd lowest rated event in WEC history? What else was Versus going to put there? Bullriding? Another airing of Bloodsport? It’s Saturday night at 10 pm EST, not primetime on Monday on ABC. I start to wonder if people even think of things like this before they freak out.

Feel free to come off the ledge at anytime. Versus isn’t dropping WEC and the promotion is fine. (Interestingly, the 8345 in the crowd was the WEC’s fifth largest attendance in history.)They just had a bad viewing night on a Saturday in early-March with two guys main eventing that aren’t household names.

Ratings-wise, this was the equivalent of that LC Davis/Deividas Taurosevičius snoozefest: not enough to take down the promotion but something you don’t want to see again.

Stephan Bonnar lost twice in Australia.

First, “The American Psycho” was declared defeated when an accidental headbutt from Kryzsztof Soszynski caused a serious gash and a fountain of blood to flow from Bonnar’s forehead during their bout at UFC 110.

Two weeks later, Bonnar was handed a second loss when the Combat Sports Authority of New South Wales denied his appeal of the result, stating in an email to MMAjunkie.com that they “did not seek to interfere with the referee’s decision.”

Unfortunately, the referee’s decision was wrong.

Bonnar knew it. Soszynski knew it. Everyone in attendance at Acer Arena that morning knew it the minute they watched the replay. While the competitors have already agreed to meet again on The Ultimate Fighter finale this June, the loss on Bonnar’s resume remains and serves as evidence for the further use of instant replay in the sport of mixed martial arts.

Things would likely have been different if this bout took place in Las Vegas.

Last August, the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved the use of instant replay in MMA and utilized the available technology in determining the official result of the Jon Jones – Matt Hamill fight at the TUF 10 Finale in December. When replays showed that an illegal “12-6″ elbow from Jones contributed to Hamill’s inability to continue, the young up-and-comer was disqualified.

Applied to the Bonnar – Soszynski bout, replays clearly showed the clashing of heads between the two combatants as the cause for the cut that stopped the fight. According to the rules, such an event would result in the fight being declared a No Contest, something both parties would undoubtedly be okay with.

But the bout took place in Australia, not Las Vegas, leaving the decision first in the hands of the referee and then, the New South Wales Combat Sports Authority. In the end, both parties came to the wrong conclusion.

While I can appreciate not wanting to step on the toes of an official and overturn a spur-of-the-moment decision by utilizing replay, failing to use the technology available to you to determine the correct results is akin to doing math with just your fingers and toes when a calculator is at your disposal.

Officials are going to make mistakes and miss things from time-to-time, but those errors and omissions should not result in a fighter incurring a loss that can be avoided. Ask Anthony Johnson. Ask Scott Smith. Ask Bonnar.

In a sport where just about everyone takes a loss at one point or another, being saddled with another tick in the loss column due to an accidental cut or finger to the eye is a tough pill to swallow.

What’s done is done. Bonnar’s appeal has been on the decline and fight fans know his latest loss comes with an asterisk. While we cannot change the past, we can certainly work to improve the future and that includes expanding the use of instant replay.

Currently, Nevada is the only state that has given the green light to using replay in situations where fouls – intentional or not – cause a bout to be stopped. What is preventing other Athletic Commissions from doing the same? If California is willing to take a second look at the Mike Aina – Billy Evangelista fight after the- act, why not give Herb Dean the opportunity to determine right away if a foul occurred in the first place?

Accidents are bound to happen. When they do, fighters should be able to know that the right decisions will be made in the end.

Right now, that can only happen in Las Vegas: the one exception where what happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.