Gunnar Nelson was placid in the days leading up to his UFC debut, even when he would have had great reason to be flipping out.

Fighting for the first time in the UFC is always a significant moment for a mixed martial artist. That alone can make the nerves raw.

Gunnar Nelson could be on the fast track to UFC glory. (Getty Images)Things, though, wouldn't be simple for Nelson. He'd have to go through a string of opponents and then watch the weight limit increase for his debut as he was making final preparations for the Sept. 29 bout on a card in Nottingham, England.

Nelson originally signed to face Pascal Krauss, but Krauss was injured and had to pull out. The UFC then tabbed Rich Attonito to replace him, but Attonito pulled out because he didn't think he'd be able to make weight on such short notice.

That led to the selection of DaMarques Johnson. The UFC agreed to switch the weight limit for the fight from the welterweight limit of 170 to 175 pounds to accommodate the fact that Johnson took the bout on short notice.

When Johnson was having

LAS VEGAS – If Macau, China, ever steals the mantle of Boxing Capital of the World from Las Vegas, it will have Zou Shiming to thank for it.

Top Rank announced the signing of the two-time Olympic gold medalist from China to a professional contract Tuesday in an elaborate ceremony at the swank Venetian Casino Hotel & Resort.

Zou Shiming greets Bob Arum, right, in Las Vegas on Wednesday. (Chris Farina/Top Rank)Zou became the first Chinese boxer to win an Olympic medal when he earned a bronze at light flyweight in 2004. He then won back-to-back gold medals in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London. In addition, he's a three-time world amateur champion.

Whether he'll become a professional star remains problematic – he's a light hitter and at 31 has spent a lifetime using the vastly different amateur style – but he has the potential to change the very nature of the sport.

Standing in the lobby of the Venetian on Tuesday, watching as Zou was greeted by several hundred onlookers, Top Rank's Bob Arum could barely contain himself.

He's been obsessed with the Asian

In the immediate aftermath of arguably the most violent televised knockout in combat sports history, Uriah Hall's overriding emotion was fear.

He was fearful he may have killed Adam Cella with the spinning back kick knockout that was broadcast Tuesday on FX on Episode 3 of Season 17 of the reality series "The Ultimate Fighter."

He was fearful, at least for a moment, that the violence he had unleashed upon Cella would get him arrested.

The celebration that usually accompanies a big knockout on an episode of TUF was noticeably absent. Jaws dropped around the gym as fighters and observers feared for Cella's well-being.

Uriah Hall feared for the safety of Adam Cella after his vicious KO. (Getty Images) It was a phenomenally vicious knockout. According to a tweet by UFC president Dana White, Cella was out for four minutes, didn't sit on the stool until six minutes after the kick that landed on the side of his face and didn't get into the ambulance to go to the hospital until nine minutes later.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has long done things his own way. His announcement via Twitter that he is likely to fight Devon Alexander on May 4 in Las Vegas is simply more proof of that.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. says Devon Alexander is the "frontrunner" to fight him on May 4. (AP)Mayweather is the world's finest fighter, as well as the sport's biggest draw. For months, he's said he'd fight on May 4, but he steadfastly refused to discuss potential opponents. Most speculation centered around Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez.

On Tuesday, though, Mayweather pulled a stunner when he said he's deep in talks with Alexander. Alexander pulled out of a scheduled Feb. 23 fight with Kell Brook on Monday, reportedly because of a biceps injury.

"The negotiations for my fight are almost done," Mayweather wrote. "The frontrunner is IBF champion Devon Alexander. It'd be a unification bout."

[Also: Boxer Omar Henry dies at 25, months after cancer diagnosis]

The choice isn't likely to stir a lot of excitement in the media or the fan base because Alexander is an unexciting fighter who has

It's probably not a coincidence that the two best ratings FX has gotten for UFC shows came after UFC programming was no longer shown on rival Spike. 

Tyron Woodley (L) and Jay Hieron face each other during UFC 156 on Saturday. (USA Today)The UFC 156 preliminary bouts on FX on Saturday set several ratings marks on the network, including most total viewers (1.897 million) and most in several key demographics. 

Chuck Saftler, the executive vice president of FX, said the viewership is the largest for a preliminary show the UFC has ever done, including when it was on Spike.

UFC on FX 7 on Jan. 19 in Brazil attracted 1.86 million viewers, which was then the most-watched fight card ever on FX. That number surpassed the UFC 148 preliminaries on FX, which were watched by 1.82 million people.

But since 2013 began, FX has gotten 1.86 million, 1.2 million and 1.897 million viewers on the three UFC cards it aired.

[Also: Frankie Edgar's best option may be a drop to bantamweight]

Saftler said there isn't as much confusion in the marketplace about where to find UFC

LAS VEGAS – Rashad Evans was a no-show. So, too, were Alistair Overeem, Jon Fitch and Ian McCall. None of the losers at UFC 156 on Saturday bothered to show for the post-fight news conference at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, save for one.

A battered, bloodied and beaten Frankie Edgar arrived midway through an event he surely didn't want to attend, to answer questions he didn't want to hear and that, in truth, he couldn't really answer.

Despite his losing streak, Frankie Edgar is still one of the UFC's best fighters. (USA TODAY)He stared blankly into the distance, contemplating a future that is extraordinarily complicated.

He remains, as UFC president Dana White said following his unanimous decision loss to Jose Aldo in their featherweight title fight, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the business.

Edgar, though, must face the cold, harsh reality of a very different world. He's going to continue to get significant fights. White has great affection for him and, given Edgar's penchant for competing in fan-friendly matches, that's understandable.

Edgar

LAS VEGAS – Anthony Pettis passed on a shot at the UFC lightweight title before and it turned out disastrous for him. Jose Aldo celebrates after his win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 156. (Getty)

He may be on the verge of doing it again, but this time, his idea to pass up a lightweight title shot could result in the most significant fight in UFC featherweight history. 

As champion Jose Aldo broke down his unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar on Saturday in their title bout at UFC 156 before 10,275 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Pettis fired off a quick text message to UFC president Dana White. It read, "I want to go to featherweight to fight Jose Aldo."

It was an extraordinary moment – a young superstar being challenged by a superstar-in-waiting in a match that would pit two of the fastest and most athletic fighters in the UFC against one another.

White said following the news conference that he had yet to respond to Pettis, but social media was abuzz about the possibilities of the fight just seconds after White tossed it out.

The

LAS VEGAS – Every kid who has ever been bullied had to be thrilled to watch Antonio "Big Foot" Silva knock out Alistair Overeem.

Overeem was extraordinarily dismissive of Silva in the buildup to their heavyweight fight before 10,275 on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. He treated Silva as little more than a sparring partner and predicted an early finish. 

Antonio Silva celebrates after his win over Alistair Overeem at UFC 156. (USA Today)As they posed for photos on Thursday following the pre-fight news conference, Overeem goaded Silva, saying, "I'm going to [expletive] you up."

Silva seethed, but managed to maintain his cool. And in the end, he got the best kind of revenge possible when he knocked the bully down and out in brutal fashion.

Overeem, who was promised a shot at the title if he won Saturday's match at UFC 156, won the first two rounds on all three judges' cards, even if he didn't look all that good in doing it.

Silva, though, did little more than graze the massive Dutchman.

"When he had me down, I talked to him and said, 'Come