The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its debut at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. this Saturday in front of 15,082 fans. Georges "Rush" St-Pierre headlined the UFC 87 fight card defending his UFC welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Brock Lesnar returned to the Octagon taking on Pride and UFC veteran Heath Herring while Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian faced off in a lightweight match that could determine the next contender for BJ Penn's belt.

 

Jon Fitch brought his impressive 15-fight winning streak into the biggest match of his career when he faced UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Unfortunately for Fitch, his momentum was stopped when he ran into a brick wall that was the French Canadian.

 

There were countless times when St-Pierre had Fitch in trouble but the American Kickboxing fighter showed an incredible heart and somehow managed to persevere. Despite his will to survive, Fitch’s championship dream was cut short as he would go on to lose a unanimous decision and give St-Pierre his first successful title defense.

 

After the fight, BJ Penn entered the Octagon to officially challenge St-Pierre. The champion later responded, “I will give a shot to everyone who deserves it. BJ Penn deserves it.”

 

The crowd erupted as Brock Lesnar made his entrance into the Octagon. After losing his UFC debut to Frank Mir, Lesnar needed to make a statement. He did so with his first punch. One clean right landed from the former wrestler that sent Herring reeling back to the canvas and Lesnar dominated the rest of the round with his incredible strength and control. The remainder of the fight mimicked the first round as Lesnar’s wrestling prowess proved too much for the “Texas Crazy Horse.” The hometown favorite enjoyed his first UFC victory and showed the world his potential.

 

“Can you see me now? Can you see me now?” yelled Lesnar after the fight. “I fell off the horse when I fought Mir and I got back on that stallion and rode off on it. I’ve been trying to work on everything every day to be a complete fighter and a contender in the UFC.”

 

In the big upset of the evening, Rob Emerson made quick work of the heavily favored Manny Gamburyan. Emerson dropped Gamburyan with a right hook at the start of the round and followed up with a fight ending left hook as Manny attempted to get up. It was an impressive 12-second performance for the underdog.

 

Ultimate Fighter season one runner-up Kenny Florian delivered a message in arguably the highest profile fight of his career. The cheers of the Minnesota fans were overwhelming as they listened to the introductions for the highly anticipated match-up between Florian and Roger Huerta. “El Matador” had the support of the crowd.

 

The first two rounds were close and could have gone either way on the judges scorecards. In the third, both fighters had great scrambles and entertained the crowd with subtle acknowledgments of landed shots. Florian landed the cleaner strikes in the final round and earned a unanimous decision by all three of the judges.

 

“I know how hard it was to fight Roger Huerta. I trained very hard for him and he’s going to be a champion,” said Florian after the fight. “I didn’t want to get into a brawl with him; I wanted to be technical and I think I was able to do that.

 

“I was very surprised I wasn’t able to submit him. He’s very strong, very technical with his hips. He’s tough as nails,” added Florian. “I really wanted to have a dominant performance against Roger. It’s up to the UFC (whether I get a title shot).”

 

Jason MacDonald showed great poise in avoiding and defending the submissions by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Demian Maia. When most fighters would have tapped, MacDonald endured and won the approval of the fans in an entertaining grappling match. Unfortunately for MacDonald, Maia showed why he is a jiu-jitsu world champion when he submitted his Canadian opponent with a rear naked choke in the third and final round. The win put the Brazilian into a list of potential contenders for the UFC middleweight title.

 

In a fight that Joe Rogan coined as the “battle of the nerds,” Tamdan McCrory and Luke Cummo faced off in welterweight action. McCrory was the aggressor early on, leading in with strikes and landing uppercuts from the clinch. The fight went to the ground on many occasions and the “Barn Cat” displayed his jiu-jitsu skills as he controlled the fight from Cummo’s back. McCrory had many slick transitions but was unable to submit the tough Cummo. In the end, all three judges awarded Tamdan McCrory the unanimous decision in what was easily considered the best preliminary fight of the night.

 

Cheick Kongo put himself back into the heavyweight title picture with a first round TKO over Dan Evensen. In a fight that many expected to be a stand-up war, the French kickboxer took the fight to the ground. After the fighters were stood up for a second time, Kongo landed a devastating straight right hand that dropped Evensen. Subsequence strikes on the ground forced the referee to halt the fight.

 

“Everyone knows I deserve a title fight,” said Kongo. “I want to be the best fighter in the world and I will show more than I did tonight when I get a title shot.”

 

In the battle of the newcomers, IFL veteran Andre Gusmao and Jon Jones put on an entertaining fight with a few spinning backfists and a couple of unfortunate low blows. Jones played the role of aggressor for the entire fight, using his reach to fatigue his opponent. The fight had a few memorable flurries but was highlighted by Jones’ striking and athleticism. The judges saw it the same and awarded Jones the unanimous decision.

 

Team Quest fighter Chris Wilson earned his first Octagon victory with a dominating performance against Steve Bruno. Throughout the fight, Bruno attempted numerous takedown attempts only to have almost all of them defended against, allowing Wilson to control from a dominant position. The American Top Team from dropped on many occasions by Wilson but showed a lot of heart in enduring the subsequent punishment. After three rounds, Wilson earned a unanimous decision.

 

Former Ultimate Fighter contestant Ben Saunders submitted newcomer Ryan Thomas in the evening’s opening bout. The two fighters exchanged early with Saunders landing left kicks to Thomas’ side. After two rounds, the effects of the kicks took its toll and Thomas crumbled to the mat, allowing Saunders to finish with an armbar.

 

“I thank Ryan for taking the fight on short notice. He’s a warrior,” said Saunders.

 

-Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44)

-Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring by unanimous decision (30-26 on all cards)

-Rob Emerson def. Manny Gamburyan by KO at 0:12, R1

-Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)

-Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:44, R3

-Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

-Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen by TKO (strikes on the ground) at 4:55, R1

-Jon Jones def. Andre Gusmao by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

-Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno by Unanimous Decision (30-27) on all cards

-Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas by submission (armbar) at 2:28, R2

 

UFC 87 VIDEO: GEORGES ST. PIERRE POST-FIGHT

 

UFC 87 VIDEO: POST-FIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE PT. 1

 

UFC 87 VIDEO: POST-FIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE PT. 2

 

UFC 87 VIDEO: ROGER HUERTA POST-FIGHT