(George Galanis is an MMA fan and BPL contributor.)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship travelled at the weekend to Acer Arena in Sydney for UFC 127: "Penn vs. Fitch." The card was headlined by a welterweight contender's bout between former two-time champion "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn and tough challenger Jon Fitch. In the night's co-main event, Britain's Michael "The Count" Bisping faced Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera in a middleweight grudge match, while Australia's own George Sotiropoulos took on Dennis Siver in a battle of rising lightweight contenders.

In a battle between two of the best fighters in mixed martial arts, the judges couldn't pick a winner: Fitch and Penn fought to a majority draw.

One judge scored it 29-28 for Fitch, but the other two judges scored it 28-28, and those two judges made it a majority draw — a disappointing ending that left fans in Sydney booing. It was the second time in three UFC pay-per-views this year that the main event has been scored a draw.

Fitch seemed to control most of the fight, and Penn acknowledged afterward that he thought he had lost. Nevertheless, Penn requested a rematch afterward, and that seems likely.

A disappointed Fitch said that he didn't know what he could have done differently. "I think I did enough to win at least a split decision," Fitch said. "I want the title more than anything, but at the end of the day we don't make the decisions ... I'm here to fight; I'm here to fight the best. If my 13 wins in the UFC already isn't enough to put me in for a title shot, I'm ready to prove myself more."

Penn sounded dejected, but he said he expected to fight Fitch again. "Since the gods were nice to me and gave me a draw, if he wants to do it again I'll do it again," said Penn.

The UFC should let them fight again; Penn and Fitch deserve the chance to erase any doubt about who's the better fighter.

In the co-main event, Michael Bisping showed off an impressive, well-rounded offensive arsenal against Jorge Rivera, using a combination of takedowns and punches to win a second-round technical knockout.

The fight was the culmination of a rivalry between Bisping and Rivera that included bad blood and trash talk from both fighters over the last few weeks, including Bisping spewing a homophobic slur toward Rivera at the weigh-in.

After the fight, Bisping and Rivera appeared to have some more harsh words for each other, as did their respective corner men. They eventually exchanged a hug, and Bisping said he was sorry in his post-fight interview.

"I just want to apologise," Bisping said. "He touched a nerve and I'm a sensitive guy."

The win improves Bisping's record to 20-4; Rivera falls to 19-8.

In a surprising lightweight result, Siver won a unanimous decision over Sotiropoulos. It was a very good fight that Siver won on the judges' scorecard by 29-28, 30-28 and 30-27, improving his professional record to 18-7.

"It was a hard, hard fight, but I could (follow) my game plan, and that's why I won," Siver said, through his translator. It was a great showing for the German, who followed the perfect game plan.

Sotiropoulos falls to 14-3, and ends an eight-fight winning streak.

The second main event for the UFC in Australia sold out in 22 minutes, with 18,186 fans attending Acer Arena generating a $3.5 million gate.