Philly used to be America's favorite fight town, and for good reason. But it's been a long time since a crowd drunk on bloodlust materialized out of the ether and followed Muhammad Ali through the streets after hearing a rumor that he was on his way to rumble with Joe Frazier in Fairmount Park. A city raised on brutal bouts at the Blue Horizon and fiercely proud of its history has been all but forgotten as a fight destination - replaced by Vegas and other points West.

No longer. Last night, the UFC put Philly back on the mega-fight map, holding its first-ever event here. Philly, in turn, did for the UFC and its athletes what it did for boxing for so many years - bestowed legitimacy and importance on the event. Because when you fight in this town, in front of these people, you become part of a long and noble tradition, and you're remembered well after the blood and sweat is scrubbed clean from the canvas.

The Wachovia Center was packed last night. Approximately 17,500 MMA fans filled the joint from the floor to the upper reaches of the arena. Generally, the crowds at UFC events tend to be a little sparse during the preliminary bouts. At least in Vegas, some of the fans like to get good and lubed up first, and it tends to take a little time before they trickle in. It didn't go that way at the Wachovia Center. The place was brimming from the first punch.

It was a loud crowd, too. They cheered and booed with equal enthusiasm, ooh-ed and aah-ed with every uppercut landed, every elbow delivered, every submission attempted. A din filled the arena, and it reminded everyone that Philly was a great fight town once, and can be again.

Still alive (and kicking)

Before his fight with lightweight champ BJ Penn, Kenny Florian said Penn was “the master. And now it’s time to kill the master.” That was probably a bad idea. Penn buried Florian, winning with a rear naked choke in the fourth round. Seems the master will live to fight another day.

From chump to champ, and vice versa

The fans booed Anderson Silva when he came out to battle everyone’s favorite brawler, Forrest Griffin. But after Silva claimed victory with an incredible first-round knockout, everything changed. Silva won the crowd over while Griffin, who sprinted out of the arena, was jeered.

Roy Jones Jr. vs. Dana White

The former pound-for-pound boxing champ, Roy Jones Jr., was in the front row last night. He's been lobbying UFC president Dana White to let him box UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. White essentially said Jones is no longer relevant. "That fight doesn't make any sense to me," White said. Jones told me he'd even be willing to tweak the boxing format and allow elbows and kicks to make the fight happen. "The fans want it," Jones said. "Silva wants it. I want it. Dana is supposed to be a smart businessman. This would be good for business."

Ouch

Former two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ Johny Hendricks won via TKO when the ref ended his fight with Amir Sadollah just 29 seconds into the first round. The crowd was ticked that it was stopped so quickly, but it was the right decision. Hendricks delivered several vicious uppercuts and mashed Sadollah's nose into a bloody mess. Mercifully, Sadollah's mullet survived the fight.

Went to the fight and a fight broke out

During the Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley bout, a brawl broke out in Section 103. The entire crowd stopped paying attention to the action in the octagon and started watching the fight in the stands. Hard to say who won. Call it a no decision.

Whatever they paid him, it's not enough

Josh Neer wore trunks with "Condom Depot" written in giant letters across his backside.

The people's champs

Allentown's Matt Riddle, Point Pleasant's Kurt Pellegrino and Hamilton's Ricardo Almeida had the entire building behind them during their respective bouts. The fans cheered mightily when all three won their fights. I almost felt bad for their opponents. They caught beatings and got no love for it.

Bloggers are a vile, unsophisticated lot

A buddy of mine, Luke, covered the event for Deadspin. We were sitting cage-side, mere feet from the UFC's scantily clad Octagon girls, when he turned to me, mouth open, and said, "these are great seats." He did everything but drool on those poor women. You can't take Harvard guys anywhere. No manners.

Bruno would not approve

The standard uniform for UFC fans seems to be jeans and a Tap Out or Affliction or Extreme Couture shirt. It looked like more than half the crowd was rockin' clothing by one of those three companies. While Luke and I were walking around, we did notice two guys wearing Armani Exchange T-shirts. "That's pretty much the same thing," Luke deadpanned.

Feel free to e-mail him

In the media room before the action got started, an MMA writer for Yahoo Sports named Dave Meltzer was giving a rather loud interview over the phone. "It's a very Philly crowd," he said derisively. "It's a different crowd than Vegas. It's a very pro wrestling crowd." I'm not sure what that means, but it didn't sound complimentary.

The first Eagles chant didn't go down until 11:19 p.m. Shocking. I had the under. . . During the pre-event block party, the front man for a band called The Blitz finished up a pretty poor cover of a Lenny Kravitz tune, then bellowed into the microphone: "Come on, UFC fans, let's rowdy it up." That's the first time in recorded history anyone has ever tried to "rowdy it up" with Lenny Kravitz. You'd get better results with Frankie Avalon. . . . Shane Victorino, Scott Eyre, Pedro Feliz and Jayson Werth were all at the fight following the Phils game. . . . Former UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell was also at the fight. If you're curious, he still has his trademark Mohawk. Wonder how long he can keep that. He turns 40 in December. Can you be a 40-year-old with a Mohawk? What's the cut-off line there?

Contact columnist John Gonzalez at 215-854-2813 or gonzalez@phillynews.com.