LONDON, Sept. 10 — Saturday’s Cage Rage was the sort of show that reminds me of why I love this sport. In general the 12 fights were fast-paced and exciting, boasting a number of upsets, some dominant performances, the crowning of some new stars and the one requisite controversy.

Cage Rage is a strange show: the audience tends to arrive in dribs and drabs, so the arena looks quite empty for the first couple of fights, but fills up rapidly to a fairly packed wall of noise as the card matures.

Usually the British crowd is an impatient one, thirsty for a good old-fashioned brawl, but something changed this time around and it’s hard to know if this was a gradual thing and I’ve just started to notice, or if this show marked the start of a new era for UK MMA.

The difference for me came when the fights hit the ground. In the past UK fans have been tolerant but not too fond of the ground. There’s never been that much booing of a technical ground fight but what surprised me about CR 13 was the warm, appreciative applause that ensued whenever a fighter improved his position or otherwise played a good move, no matter how minor, in the game of ground chess. It was really good to see.

Also, the new rules work. It’s as simple as that. The proof, as we say over here, is in the pudding. The biggest roar of the night came when little Brad Pickett (Pictures) leapt over the prone Ozzy Haluk (Pictures)’s guard and landed with both heels on Haluk’s face. It was brutal, to be sure, but even I found myself cheering as referee Grant Waterman stepped in, and “One Punch” Pickett completed his transformation from entertaining rookie to a fully-fledged UK MMA star.

In terms of performances, this show was packed with heart, guts and action. I’ll give some honorable mentions to the monstrous Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), the new Cage Rage world light heavyweight champion, who blew through the tough Fabio Piamonte (Pictures) as if he wasn’t even there; and also to Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, whose wonderful jiu-jitsu made the slick Jean Silva (Pictures) look as if he were a virgin white belt.

But the star of the show was the aforementioned Brad Pickett (Pictures) who outperformed everyone’s expectations en route to an absolutely stunning victory over the Manchester-based Ozzy Haluk (Pictures). “One Punch” has “star” written all over him, from the eccentric Chas’n’Dave entrance to his all-action, aggressive performances. Pickett will fight for the Cage Rage British featherweight title against Robbie Olivier at CR 14 in December. I look forward to that, as Olivier is an excellent all-rounder and an extremely tough match-up for the newcomer.

In the main event, Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) dominated the unpredictable Jean Silva (Pictures) en route to a convincing victory by arm-triangle choke after 4:18 of the second round. Silva is not an easy opponent to face, and has proven especially difficult to finish.

The Chute Boxe fighter is unorthodox, flexible and tough — a combination that saved him from submission at the hands of the technically superior Ribeiro during the first round.

The action took place almost entirely on the floor, as Ribeiro calmly took the fight to the ground, tangling up his tattooed opponent and passing Silva’s guard seemingly at will. Ribeiro caught Silva in an arm-triangle towards the end of the first round, holding it long enough and tight enough that it seemed that the Chute Boxe representative was fading.

Silva’s stubbornness saved him on that occasion, but when history repeated itself in the second round, Silva was left with no option but to tap out.

With this victory, Ribeiro became the Cage Rage world lightweight champion, and sealed his place in the very top echelons of the world rankings. On an aside, I’ve never seen such smooth ground skills in an MMA fight. This kid really is something special, and it’s hard to believe that he’s still only 26 years old.

In a clash of a large man and a huge man, James “The Colossus” Thompson reined victorious over a game Andy Costello (Pictures). This was actually a lot more competitive than I expected it to be. Although the two fighters were of a similar height, Costello was the visibly smaller man in terms of bulk.

Thompson came out like a truck, throwing powerful but slightly sloppy shots. Costello did well to weather the early storm and even took his opponent to the ground with a good judo throw, but Thompson was too strong for him and worked quickly back to his feet.

From there it was just a matter of time as Thompson sprawled on a Costello shoot and worked from there to take Costello’s back and start raining down the shots to force a stoppage. Thompson takes the win by TKO after 2:33 of the first round.

In what amounted to a real statement of intent, Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) ignored a broken right hand to literally pound a path straight through his opponent, Chute Boxe’s Fabio Piamonte (Pictures). The Dutchman showed no mercy as the two fighters clashed, crossing the cage with his hands already flying.

Piamonte was quickly overwhelmed on his feet, so he clinched and looked for a takedown. Although the fight did actually hit the mat, it was Manhoef who was on top, and the Dutchman landed some serious shots before standing and calling his opponent back to his feet.

The writing was already on the wall as Piamonte stood, and a powerful flurry from Manhoef knocked Piamonte’s mouthpiece flying. The Brazilian soon followed, crashing to the mat and staying down. Manhoef took the victory by KO after just 51 brutal seconds, and was duly crowned as the Cage Rage world light heavyweight champion. After the fight, it was announced that Manhoef’s first challenger would be “a big name from Japan.”