After cooler heads prevailed and another decision was recorded (Riley, unanimous), we needed a major jolt.

Along came "The Spider."

Oh, what a flabbergasting web he weaves.

By now, Silva's dismantling of Forrest Griffin has been tucked into the knockout files under "LUDICROUS." Silva toyed with the former light heavyweight champ. Made it seem like some guy had come in from the restless crowd, shed his kick-ass T-shirt and jumped in with the baddest mo-fo on Earth.

To recount the scene: With neither foot firmly planted as he eased away from a Griffin combo, Silva popped his foe in the mug with the kind of short, stunning jab that's usually only effective in cartoons.

Griffin went down like a shot.

And just like that, "The Spider" had cured a legion of arachnaphobes.

With Griffin's jaw (perhaps) injured and his pride (definitely) obliterated, he picked himself up from the Bud Light logo and bolted from the cage like a scolded dog.

His reaction wasn't so off-the-wall. After all, in 3 minutes, 23 seconds of action, Griffin didn't even touch an opponent that had the elusiveness and accuracy of The Invisible Man.

Silva's definitive first-round knockout of everybody's favorite grinder sent the fans into a tizzy of disbelief. And this came just moments after those same folks lustily booed the UFC's middleweight champion, whose recent pair of snoozers at 185 pounds had deflated his aura and raised questions that someone like Griffin, a bona fide light heavyweight star, was sure to reconcile.

Ah, but Silva is a rare human who somehow marries the contrary elements of serenity and aggression. He pummeled Griffin with a blank face and blazing moves that made you wonder who will ever beat him.

For us, it was like we had sat through a scoreless basketball game, only to have Michael Jordan arrive in the final seconds to deliver a game-winning, tongue-wagging dunk from the foul line.

Next, B.J. Penn used a workmanlike effort to choke out Kenny Florian, whose strategy was as dull as the prelims. "The Prodigy" defended his lightweight strap in a manner that helped recover some respect he lost during his campaign to sully GSP's reputation.

But Silva stole the show, which for most of the night left us wondering if we had wasted our money.

To the contrary, we witnessed something legendary.

I do declare.