It was a surprisingly short fight capping a night of grueling wars.  Velasquez dropped Nogueira with a two-punch combo then finished the MMA legend with five unanswered punches on the mat before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 2:20.

But, those nostalgic for PRIDE can take comfort that tenth-ranked light heavyweight “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (34-10-1) picked up a respectable unanimous decision win in his move down to middleweight versus “Count” Michael Bisping (18-3).  The judges’ scores were 29-28.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (233.2 lbs./106 kg) vs. Cain Velasquez (242 lbs./110 kg)

Wanderlei Silva (184.8 lbs./84kg) vs. Michael Bisping (184.8 lbs./84 kg)

Joe Stevenson (154 lbs./70 kg) vs. George Sotiropoulos (154 lbs./70 kg)

Keith Jardine (204.6 lbs./93 kg) vs. Ryan Bader (204.6 lbs./93 kg)

“Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (233.2 lbs./106 kg) vs. Anthony Perosh (215.6 lbs./98 kg)

Stephan Bonnar (204.6 lbs./93 kg) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (204.6 lbs./93 kg)

Chris Lytle (169.4 lbs./77 kg) vs. Brian Foster (171.7 lbs./78 kg)

C.B. Dollaway (184.8 lbs./84 kg) vs. Goran Reljic (184.8 lb.s/84 kg)

James Te Huna (205 lbs./93 kg) vs. Igor Pokrajac (205 lbs./93 kg)

The UFC frowns on fighters that have multiple losses in a row and they tend to get cut. Wanderlei is coming into his fight with “The Count” Michael Bisping (18-2) with back to back losses. His last win inside the Octagon came at UFC 84 in May of 2008 against “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (14-6-1). Obviously Silva wants a win but what happens if he were to lose Bisping?

The UFC would not cut Silva like they have other fighters with three straight losses. Wanderlei is a high profile fighter who has been involved in some of the best MMA fights we have ever witnessed. One does not release a guy like that as it would be promotional suicide. The UFC would essentially be giving a huge gift to Scott Coker and Strikeforce.

Dana White and the UFC brass would need to do something if he were to lose and the only option I see is them forcing him into retirement. Much to the dismay of fans of the now defunct Pride FC, this is the only solution that makes sense for the UFC.

They can allow (force) him to retire and use him as a spokesperson for the UFC. Of course all this talk is premature as the fight has yet to happen and Wanderlei told us in the media conference call that he was looking to bring back the destructive knees we saw him use in Pride. Since his arrival in the UFC those knees have been MIA and many fans have been calling for Wanderlei to get back to his roots.

This fight will be a great one involving two men that desperately need wins but for much different reasons. Wanderlei needs to win in order to keep the talks of retirement away but there is not a chance in hell that the UFC would cut him.

Silva had been matched versus Bisping for UFC 105 in Manchester November 14, but had to pull out of the fight because of surgery to remove scar tissue from his face.  Silva was then rumored to be matched versus Fighters.com’s tenth-ranked middleweight “Sexyama” Yoshihiro Akiyama (14-2) at UFC 110.

But, according to Fighters Only, that matchup has been scrapped in favor of the original Silva versus Bisping fight.

Silva lost a unanimous decision to “Ace” Rich Franklin (26-5) at UFC 99 in Cologne June 13.

Bisping TKO’d Canadian middleweight Denis Kang (34-11-1) by punches at UFC 105.

“I’m absolutley over the moon,” an ecstatic Bisping told his hometown crowd.  “This is my life.  It really hurts me that people don’t give me the respect I deserve.”

At the beginning of round two, Bisping scored a single-leg takedown to put Kang on his back.  Bisping cut up Kang’s face and staggered Kang with a relentless ground’n'pound.  The exchange set-up the final moments of the round when Bisping slammed Kang and reignited his g’n'p attack.  Kang rolled into turtle position; and, Bisping added knees to his offense until referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to grant Kang a reprieve.

Kang had wasted a first round in which he floored Bisping with a compact overhand right as Bisping lunged forward to attack.  Kang dove into Bisping’s guard and passed to side control, but Bisping regained half guard.  The pair shuffled through guards for the entire first round and Kang only landed a right hand and an elbow, nearly getting caught in an armbar.

After his win, Bisping admitted, “I’ve got a long way to go.  Bear with me guys.  I’ve got a long way to go.”

As speculated Monday, the UFC welterweight contender matchup between American “Quick” Mike Swick (14-2) and Brit “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (22-6) was officially announced for Manchester.

The co-main event pits Brit “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2), returning from a highlight reel knockout loss to “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (25-7) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas in July, across the Octagon from Canadian Denis Kang (34-11-1).

The rest of the card includes:

Matt Brown (10-7) v “Lightning” James Wilks (4-2)
“Real Deal” Ross Pearson (14-5-1) v Aaron Riley (28-11-1)
Terry Etim (13-2) v Shannon Gugerty (12-3)
“Relentless” Paul Taylor (10-5-1) v. “Hitman” John Hathaway (10-0)
“Slick” Nick Osipczak (5-0) v Matthew Riddle (3-0)
Alexander Gustafsson (7-0) v Jared Hamman (2-1)
Andre Winner (10-3-1) v “Crazy Cuban” Rolando Delgado (6-4-1)

He also confirmed “Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (15-3), twin brother of Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked heavyweight and former PRIDE and UFC heavyweight champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1), has joined the UFC light heavyweight division.

Furthermore, White confirmed UFC 105 in Manchester 14 November would be co-headlined by a middleweight matchup between Brit “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2) and Canadian Denis Kang (34-11-1).

MMA Junkie reported the possible match-up Wednesday morning after Fighters.com reported Monday that Brown had lined up an opponent other than former UFC welterweight champion “Terror” Matt Serra (9-6), a rumor that had been reported by MMA Weekly.

I guess the magic number is “3″: It takes three reporters to unveil an undercard fight on an event three months out.

Once described by Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked light heavyweight “Rampage” Quinton Jackson (28-7) as “born to be a fighter“, Brown has racked up three wins versus a single loss in the Octagon since losing to Amir Sadollah (1-1) on season seven of The Ultimate Fighter. He TKO’d “Drago” Pete Sell (8-5) at UFC 96 in Columbus 7 March.

Brown has left his primary training camp at JG MMA Academy in Cincinnati to train in Las Vegas.

Wilks tapped Damarques Johnson (12-7) in a rear naked choke to win the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas 20 June.

105 is likely to also feature the returns of Brits middleweight “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2), welterweight “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (22-6), and lightweight TUF 9 champ “Real Deal” Ross Pearson (14-5-1).

Silva lost a UD to former UFC middleweight champ “Ace” Rich Franklin (26-4) in 195-pound catch weight matchup at UFC 99 in Cologne 13 June, rendering him 1-3 in the Octagon and 1-5 in his last six fights.

Since returning to the big show after PRIDE’s collapse in 2007, Silva has had difficulty maintaining 205 pounds, though in PRIDE he fought as heavy as 220-pounds in the Open Weight Grand Prix. After his loss to Franklin, Silva announced he will debut as a middleweight in his next matchup.

Rumors floated that Silva would be matched versus middleweight “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2) at 105, but Bisping’s camp denied them.

Bisping will certainly fight on the card, probably in the main event, and Fighters.com confirmed last week that welterweight “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (16-5) thinks he’ll fight in Manchester.

Welterweight prospect “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (22-6) and The Ultimate Fighter 9 champions welterweight “Lightning” James Wilks (4-2) and lightweight “Real Deal” Ross Pearson (14-5-1) have all been rumored for Manchester too. All three are Brits.

Couture is in Portland promoting his matchup versus Fourth-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1) 29 August at UFC 102. He’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Couture also remarked that he expected seventh-ranked light heavyweight “Hollywood” Dan Henderson’s (24-7) brutal KO of “Count” Michael Bisping (17-2) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas Saturday, but, “It isn’t the end of the world, it’s not the end of his career and there’s no reason he can’t get right back up there again. It is up to him and how he deals with this loss.”

Bisping took a right hand flush to the jaw from Hendo’ and another while splayed unconcious on the mat.

Couture said, “Dan has a tremendous right hand. Mike isn’t the first person to go down from that and he won’t be the last. There aren’t too many fighters who would have stood up to that. Mike has a lot of talent and abilities, but in this game you make a mistake and you lose. It is the measure of an elite fighter how he comes back from this.”