• By MATT RAMSAY
• Special to 2theadvocate.com
• Published: Sep 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 3:28 p.m.

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Well first and foremost what we have learned is that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has competition. I wouldn’t sell just yet, but you might want to buy in on Affliction, being they just assembled the best heavyweight division ever in Mixed Martial Arts.

In Affliction’s first-ever bout, it’s officials learned that paying fighters like Tim Sylvia $22,222.22 a second for his fights might be a little steep, and they will probably do a better math lesson before their next show.

Affliction helped the doubting casual MMA world learn that Fedor Emelianenko was not an urban legend but is in fact “The Last Emperor” when he obliterated former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds.

We did learn that shear marketing power with the likes of Kimbo Slice has its perks with Elite XC, another contender to the MMA title, now holding the record for the most viewers ever for an MMA event. On May 31, 2008, Elite XC pulled in 6.51 million viewers for the main event of the evening. Out of the 6.51 million viewers about half of them were curious onlookers checking out MMA and this Slice fellow for the first and most likely last time.

We all hoped that Elite XC officials learned that when someone has an ear the size of a golf ball vs. someone who has the punching power of Ivan Drago, that this can and most always will lead to bad TV.

Note to self: Please drain ear if it ever remotely resembles anything close to what James Thompson’s ear looked like before his fight with Slice.

Popular newcomer Brock Lesnar and urban legend Kimbo Slice learned the hard way that this is not going to be a cakewalk like pro wrestling and backyard brawls. What we learned as a fan base about these two, like it or not, is that one is for real and it appears one is not. We learned one will fight anyone and the other ekes by on pathetic competition.

As an MMA audience we learned that Lesnar’s 40 yard dash time at the NFL Combine sure looks to translate quite well into the Octagon when he was running down Heath Herring like a Brahma bull.

We learned is that Chuck Liddell still has it as much as ever after a three-round war against Wanderlei Silva. Unfortunately Liddell’s stock fell below where it was before the Silva fight after being put to sleep by Rashad Evans. Apparently Liddell still hasn’t learned not to lead in with an uppercut, even though he said he would never do that after that same punch caused his downfall with Quinton Jackson.

After Silva’s third-straight loss, we weren’t quite sure where his head would be. We did learn where Keith Jardine’s head was. It was on the mat after the Silva of old smashed Jardine in 36 seconds.

We learned for a fact that Silva belongs in the light heavyweight division. If you didn’t learn this, just ask James Irvin. Silva looked as in good as shape as we have ever seen him.

We also learned that Matt Hughes is still not impressed by George St. Pierre’s performances, as he once again said this during UFC 87. Maybe he will only be impressed by St. Pierre if he loses to him for the third time in a row in a more dominating fashion, if that’s even possible.

We learned clearly that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson doesn’t handle defeat too well after flipping out in Southern California. We learned that he likes to ram into cars and then evade police all the while having a life-sized picture of himself on the side of his monster truck in broad daylight.