For a moment in the first round of their UFC 116 Main Event, following a Shane Carwin right uppercut, the much ballyhooed Brock Lesnar reacted badly. The big man, obviously ultra-aware of the power in Carwin's hands, staggered away like a hurt animal, looking vulnerable. Carwin jumped on the chance but couldn't ground-and-pound a dazed Lesnar into submission, with Lesnar regaining his confidence.

"I just had to weather the storm," Lesnar told ESPN.  "He's got some heavy shots. I just had to hang back. I knew he was getting tired. Each shot was less dramatic than the other, and I thought, 'I'll just let him go.'"

By the second round, with Carwin still exhausted from the first, Lesnar got Carwin to the ground and quickly and efficiently ended it with a choke hold, as Carwin tapped out for his first UFC loss. With the win, Lesnar retains his UFC Super-Heavyweight title and wipes out the ïnterim "title" Carwin won after Lesner was held up due to injuries.

The fight had a nearly Ali-Frazier vibe about it, with the exception of having any cultural significance whatsoever. Nonetheless, Carwin represented the best Lesnar could fight and questions were being asked. But this was a night of answers for Lesnar.

Despite a bit too much respect for Carwin's power - that almost got him knocked out - Lesnar did a solid job in tightening his roll as the "Toughest man in the world. After allowing Carwin to take control in the first round, his high-energy ground attack proved too much. It was, thus far, a career-defining victory for Lesnar.

Dana White and the UFC put together a very strong card, as well. hile not ringing with grand names, the competition was excellent.

The always exciting Chris Leben got a tough win by submitting Yoshihiro Akiyama. It was Leben's second win in three weeks. Being that he just bailed out White big time, look for Leben to get a big fight next, he won't disappoint, regardless.

Stephan Bonnar lived up to his nickname "American Psycho" giving and taking as much as could humanly accept before finally pummeling Polish tough man Krzysztof Soszynski.

Also on the undercard, The Ultimate Fighter 10" runner-up Brendan Schaub kocked out Chris Tuchscherer within a minute, Ricardo Romero submitted Seth Putrezeli, and George Sotiropoulos decisioned Kurt Pellegrino.

--WKW

Update: With the rush of new readers coming in from big links from William K. Wolfrum Chronicles and others, please let me point out that our comment section is a good place to discuss the fight.

Also posted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles