When MMA fans hear about new promotions coming into the U.S. market, many of them think about the countless promotions that have lived and died. Others think of the current promotions that obtained a peak of less than good and then descended to the bottom are are barely hanging on. On Saturday night, the fans of this sport saw something different. HDNet Fights not only had very good production value, but also did things that other promotions seem to just throw together. There are, of course, a few differences between most upstarts and HDNet Fights. Mark Cuban can infuse the promotion with some money that many organizations simply cannot produce, and he has the capability to hold the event in a huge venue, the American Airlines Arena, in Dallas, Texas, an arena that houses his own Dallas Mavericks. Nonetheless, the event kicked off with some great action.

Great preliminary action, Main event works

The good thing about upstart promotions is that it forces them to find up-and-coming talent to fill their undercards. In this case, it wasn't exactly the most veteran of undercards, but definitely a suitable stable of young fighters and old fighters. Marcus Lanier improved his record against a weaker opponent in Lee King, but showed some promise in his wrestling abilities. Liam McCarthy got a much needed TKO win over Jason House. Jay White's record of 1-5 deceived everyone, but he pulled out an impressive submission victory over Patrick Castillo. Nissen Osterneck lived up to his new found hype as he defeated a decent Freddie Espircueta via ground and pound in the first round. Corey Mahon surprised some people with his win over an able Chris Bowles and improved his record to 8-0. There are definitely some flashes of talent within the group of guys on the undercard, and I'm sure we'll see more of them in future shows

Although there wasn't much in the realm of upsets on the main card, we did see some surprising outcomes. Tristan Yunker looked sickly on Friday when he failed to make the 170 pound cutoff, but Pete Spratt agreed to take 25% of Yunker's purse in order to fight. It worked out well for Spratt. Spratt smashed Yunker's eye early in the first round, cutting a deep gash below the left orbital. The referee stepped in and ended the bout in the first round. Krzysztof Soszynski defeated Robert Villegas after Villegas apparently broke his foot and was "flopping" to the ground according to the HDnet broadcast crew. Yves Edwards had a shaky first round, but came back in the second and was able to take Alonzo Martinez's back and sink the rear naked choke. Some excellent battles from some MMA veterans that seemingly haven't made their way back to the big leagues that are the UFC. Either way, it looks like HDNet has tapped into a resource that they can continue to use.

In the main events, Frank Trigg demolished a smaller looking Edwin Dewees by sinking in a kimura while on his back and rolling as Dewees tried to escape it. Dewees did not tap, and eventually, it looked as if Trigg may have cracked Dewees's arm. In the post-fight interview, Trigg led us to believe that it was broken. In the final fight of the night, Mayhem held off Tim Kennedy and won unanimously 29-28 to edge out Kennedy. After entering the cage with pinatas and candy, he walked toward the ring in silver tights and a red cape with a mask as if he was a pro-wrestler. Very entertaining for the Mayhem Monkeys in attendance.

Overall, the fights were fairly entertaining without too much controversy. Good performances from some unknowns, great outcomes for some veterans, and the main events set up the Frank Trigg vs. Jason Miller II. It wasn't a bad night for the first LIVE broadcasted event for HDNet Fights.

What really shined...

The most evident difference between HDNet and many of the other promotions was the commentary and broadcast interviewers. Although HDNet didn't provide the most in-depth broadcasting team, they did keep it informative and in-depth at times. It wasn't overly analytical and sounded more professional than many of the other promotions. Their in-cage interviewer was smooth in his asking of questions and asked questions that we as the fans would actually consider hearing. A vast improvement from Frank Mir's bumbling talk after WEC fights, and Joe Rogan's questioning after UFC fights. Impressive to say the least.

The production was also done in a different way than what we may see in the UFC. The arena wasn't lit up like is usually is for UFC events. It was dark, and the only light that was bright was the light hitting the cage canvas. During the entrances, the light show was full blown, but for viewers watching, the dim lighting around the cage had a very professional look and feel to it. We've seen this in boxing matches specifically, although not many of the huge title fights. In definitely kept up with the theme of not showing off ring girls, and more of the theme of professionalism that Mark Cuban stated in the past.

On another note, kudos to the balls of the man who interviewed Couture. Not only did he ask questions that MANY MMA interviewers never ask because they think it's respectful to just leave the issue alone, but he asked the question we all wanted to hear: When will we see you back in the cage, and will it be with the UFC? Couture stated it could be with the UFC if the co-promote with M-1, but that his fight contract ends in July and his employment contract ends in October. Couture hinted that we may see him against Fedor in October. They also asked Ken Shamrock some questions and he eluded to the fact that there may be a fight between himself and his brother Frank Shamrock. Why is it that HDNet has the balls to ask these questions and nobody else does?

What do we think about HDNet Fights?

HDNet Fights is definitely not a poorly produced or commentated event. They have been able to pick up on some of the other MMA veterans out there that remain unsigned, and they have also been able to find some talent that is up-and-coming around the country and locally in the state of Texas. The event definitely had a more professional feel to it and was without the extravagant ring girls and the flashy lights and spectacle of some of the other U.S. promotions. It was a simple, laid back MMA promotion that had a feel of real professionalism, at least to this viewer.

Check out HDNet Fights on HDNet. The channel also re-airs past events such as the IFO, and will be broadcasting Yarennoka from Japan as well on New Year's Eve. Definitely check out that card as Fedor Emelianenko will be fighting Hong Man Choi, as well as a plethora of RANKED lightweight matchups will be occuring.