What did you make of UFC 115? Better than expected? Worse? About right?

Chuck Liddell will be back. Yes, UFC prez and Liddell’s pal Dana White says he’s finished in the UFC, that he’ll never step inside the octagon as a fighter again, but I don’t believe it.

Sure, Liddell looked bad against Rich Franklin at Saturday’s UFC 115. Horrible in fact. I know everybody’s saying how great he looked – and physically he did have a great beach body – but he was slow and awkward, his timing was off, he didn’t look sharp, whether due to age or time off Dancing with the Stars or that hesitancy that creeps in when a fighter’s been rocked a few times the way Liddell was in his two previous fights. And he got tagged quite a few times before Rich Franklin finally put him down with a right hook with five seconds left in the opening round. And that was by a Franklin who broke his left arm deflecting a Liddell kick earlier in the round, not that anyone could tell.

Still, I don’t see Liddell pulling the trigger on his career just yet, to go out with a huge Knockout of the Year-style loss as his swansong. Not with Tito Ortiz out there jawing and gloating about a three-match. It’s easy to imagine Liddell headlining a free Fight Night card, whether against Ortiz or some other bottom-of-the-barrel light heavyweight who will afford him the opportunity to cap his career with a win, reclaim some dignity and give a proper “thank you” to the fans from the center of the octagon.

As for Franklin, he can look forward to Forrest Griffin or Quinton “Rampage” Jackson or Thiago Silva or Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, although I’m pulling for a rematch with Lyoto Machida. Although with champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua sidelined due to knee surgery for up to 11 months, the light heavyweight division is in flux right now. Maybe we’ll see Machida and Rashad Evans square off for an interim belt while we wait for Rua to heal.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Pat Barry put on the most heartwarming bout of Saturday’s card, as strange as that may sound. I mean, how often do fighters touch gloves and hug mid-fight out of mutual respect and sportsmanship? Truly remarkable and thrilling in its own way that had little to do with the fight itself.

On that count, Cro Cop suffered a couple of big knockdowns at the end of Barry’s straight right in the opening frame that looked like it was going to be the end of his UFC career, as well. But the Croatian headhunter turned things around in the second round with flashes of Cro Cop of old – sidekicks, axe kicks, heavy lumber – before surprising just about everybody by submitting Barry via rear-naked choke in the third.

Yes, Barry broke his hand in the the first round – probably on Cro Cop’s face – and a bone in his foot shortly thereafter, but that doesn’t take anything away from Cro Cop’s victory. Will he ever challenge for the UFC heavyweight title? Doubt it. But the division could use an old lion gatekeeper to school the young cubs coming up through the ranks.

People are also talking about Martin Kampmann’s deserving a welterweight title shot after decisioning Paulo Thiago. Maybe they’ve forgotten his losses to Nate Marquardt and Paul Daley. Then again, I predicted Thiago would get a title shot by this time next year and Kampmann has pretty much guaranteed that’s not going to happen.

Ben Rothwell and Gilbert Yvel, a dull three-rounder that showed Yvel has zero ground game and Rothwell is like a less-talented Roy Nelson. And Carlos Condit pulled off a huge comeback after being outclassed by Rory MacDonald for two-and-a-half rounds. As for the referee stoppage with seven seconds left, it was a little premature – MacDonald was taking a beating on the ground but still intelligently defending himself. Could he have survived until the bell? Probably. Would he have earned the decision if he had? Almost certainly. But the ref isn’t watching the clock and hoping a fighter can last until the round ends. Fighter safety first. So good call.

Not so good call was the undercard decision by ref Yves Lavigne to wave off the Matt Wiman-Mac Danzig bout when it looked like Danzig had been choked unconscious. Replays clearly show he was just lying still, conserving energy and waiting for Wiman to loosen the choke. Bad call any way you slice it. Unfortunately, that means we’re stuck with Danzig in the UFC for at least one more fight.

Cherry picking from the rest of the preliminary bouts, I called Evan Dunham to upset Tyson Griffin, which he did via split decision, essentially by strapping himself to Griffin’s back like a backpack for three rounds. David Loiseau’s UFC return was likely short-lived after a second-round TKO loss to Mario Miranda and Toronto’s Claude Patrick was victorious in his UFC debut with a second-round submission of Ricardo Funch.

Not a great card, not bad either. About what I expected. That expectations were low – both because of the lineup and the recent spate of disappointing UFC events – certainly made UFC 115 feel more satisfying than it probably deserves.