In addition to this, check back later as I run down the results of the fights and the implications of whatever may happen tonight.
Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby
This fight went down on facebook (apparently, though I couldn't get any stream to work) with Camozzi finishing it off with a guillotine after bloodying Jacoby up. Nothing surprising, as Jacoby's only other fight in the UFC was a loss to Clifford Starks at UFC 137. With Camozzi being an alum of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), the UFC is most likely happy with the result of the fight.
Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson
2:13 pm - Johnson bearing the scar from a gunshot wound received just under a year ago.
2:14 pm - The Mexecutioner doesn't shake hands, and Lavar hurts him immediately.
2:16 pm - Beltran has a great chin. Lavar's got to be careful not to punch himself out early. He's had cardio issues before. But his jab is looking great in round one.
2:17 pm - Joey needs to defend his body better. He's dropping his hands and that jab is landing. But Lavar is dropping his left, which is dangerous against a brawler like Beltran. If he keeps doing that, Beltran will find a home for his overhand right/right hook eventually.
2:19 pm - Lavar with the huge KO. I was in the middle of writing that this was becoming the kind of fight Beltran loves and he's never been KO'd in the UFC. But Lavar was keeping Beltran on his feet with those uppercuts. The last four to five punches were academic.
Lavar Johnson finishes the Mexecutioner Joey Beltran off with about 8 successive right uppercuts with 26 seconds left in the opening round. Beltran had never been KO'd in the UFC and Johnson gets a win in his first fight. "Usually I knock people out with just one, but he took it," Johnson says to a probably stoned Joe Rogan after the fight.
Shane Roller vs. Michael Johnson
2:22 - An ad for the Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz fight just ran. Probably the fight I'm looking forward to the most in 2012 (based on what's been booked already). Love that fight.
2:31 - Johnson is a training partner of Evans', and he's a former TUF runner-up himself. TUF contestants usually get match-ups that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva thinks they can win. Roller is a good stylistic match for Johnson to cut his teeth on. Both are wrestlers (Roller was a star at Oklahoma State), but Johnson is much more athletic. Neither has shown great striking, but Roller has shown one-punch knock out power. Wrestling can often cancell itself out when both fighters are good at it. If Johnson's improved his striking technique, he could be very successful here.
2:33 - Round one starts. Roller looks a little softer around the middle than the last time I saw him fight. He came in at 156, which is perfectly fine, and he's a wrestler, so his weight-cutting skills should be great.
2:35 - Johnson doing a great job stuffing the takedowns of the 3-time All American Roller.
2:37 - Good combo, but only the leg kick at the end landed.
2:39 - Johnson throwing a lot of good combos now, but not much besides the leg kicks are landing flush. A heavy knee at the end of the round was the most effective strike of the fight thus far. Johnson takes that round with the flurries he threw in the last two minutes of the round. Johnson's wrestling appears to be successful in negating Roller's. Roller needs this fight on the ground to win.
2: 39 - Round two begins with much of the same. Roller looking and failing to take Johnson down. A smattering of boos results.
2:43 - Roller finally decides to pull guard, and Johnson's got to be careful here. Roller is a rare bird, a wrestler who is very solid off of his back. Marc Laimon is a great grappling coach and has been Roller's coach for years.
2:44 - Roller lands his first significant punch, and Shane is certainly pushing the pace and controlling the action of the fight. "Hit 'em," great advice coming from Johnson's corner.
2: 45 - If Roller had been able to finish the takedown at the end of the round, he would have definitely won the round unanimously. But without that, I'm not sure how the judges will see that round. I've got it 19-19 going into the last round.
2:46 - Round three starts with the fighters throwing single strikes from distance.
2:47 - Roller gets Johnson's back, worst case scenario for Michael Johnson.
2:48 - Herb Dean with a huge cock tease. Looked like he was stopping the fight but he was warning Roller for punches to the back of the head. Johnson doesn't look like he knows how to defend the body triangle.
2:50 - Johnson can steal this round if he can land great ground and pound here. Great reversal.
2:51 - Herb Dean is a masterful ref. Great job to slow the action down and allow Roller to recover from being jump-kicked in the dick.
2:51 - Great final round. I had it 10-9 Roller, giving Roller the fight 29-28 on my scorecard. Who knows what the judges will say though.
Johnson takes it home on the the scorecards and cryptically asks Dana White to pay him in gum, specifically the kind with layers.
Scores
All three scored it 29-28 for Johnson.
Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
3:01 - Eric Wisely, owner of one of the most pun-able names in history, squares off against a guy whose nickname makes absolutely no sense in English, Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira.
3:05 - I'm going to refer to Oliveira as Do Bronx from now on, since it's easier to type than his last name. This will be the 22-year old Do Bronx's first fight in the featherweight (145 lbs) division.
3:06 - Great to see Big Jon McCarthy in the ring. I thought I'd never see it again when he spent those years away from the organization. It just isn't UFC if Big Jon isn't there to ref some fights.
3:07 - That was an incredibly rare submission. Looked like a form of a calf-crusher, but that was huge strain on the joint as well. Tyson Griffin withstood something similar against Rafael Dos Anjos. Great finish by Do Bronx, and very quick. Wisely's defense of the first two leg locks Do Bronx threw at him was textbook, but it's impossible to train for something as rare and spur-of-the-moment as what Do Bronx eventually finished him with.
3:13 - These interviews with translators are terrible television, every single time. Without fail, it drags on (for at least twice as long, because everything has to be translated. They have to do it because that's part of what Rogan brings to the broadcast, but it's bad TV. About as exciting as a session at the UN.
Charles Oliveira SUB just one minute and 43 seconds into the first round. Do Bronx saw an opportunity to finish Wisely, and wisely seized that opportunity.
I had to do one.
Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
3:19 - Ariel Helwani asked Lavar Johnson if he felt he'd sent a message to UFC heavyweights on behalf of the the incoming Strikeforce heavyweight divisions, Lavar said, blunt as can be, "No, not really." I hate moments like that when interviewing someone. Helwani was hoping for some trash talk, got nothing but the truth.
3:21 - Roop is so tall at 145 that it looks goofy, while Swanson, a BJJ black belt, has the worst tattoos I've seen this side of Alan Belcher's biceps. The SoCal chest and palm trees on his lower abs are just terrible.
3:32 - Roop keeps throwing that teep out there. Teep is Mike Goldberg's favorite word. This keeps up and this will be an annoying fight to listen to.
3:34 - Great reversal there by Swanson, but he squanders the positional advantage.
3:37 - Roop is great at staying active, even if he's not landing huge strikes.
3:38 - Good thing I didn't spend the energy to score the first round. Great over hand right from Cub just sent that mouthpiece flying so hard it bounced off the cage and still flew a few feet.
Cub Swanson KO at 2:22 of round two. Swanson gets his first win since November of 2010.
John-Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
3:53 - I don't know anything about Einemo. A cursory websearch says he's Norwegian and a BJJ black belt. He trains at Golden Glory (Alistair Overeem's gym), so I'd assume his striking is ok. You might remember Russow as the guy who shattered Todd Duffee's reputation by taking his best punches and then knocking out the UFC fastest KO record-holder.
4:01 - Russow with the MMA world's best muffin top. Man he's jiggly.
4:04 - Russow showing his wrestling skills in the octagon more than any fight of his I can remember. Great sweep at the end by Einemo.
4: 05 - That sweep gave Rogan a BJJ-boner. I give that round to Russow, 10-9.
4:06 - Einemo content to fight off his back. That's not how you win in MMA these days unless you can get a finish, and Russow is doing a great job staying out of danger.
4:08 - Einemo is fighting like he's at Abu Dabi. Really looking to sweep, but when he fails, he just remains on his back.
4:10 - Einemo looks tired and may have broken his nose. That won't help with the tired thing. Another 10-9 for Russow.
4: 13 - No idea what Einemo's corner told him, but I hope they made it clear he needs a finish. It looks like they did, as he's throwing huge knees. Then he's taken down by Russow. Good offense from Einemo, but he has to defend better. He just stayed on his back when Russow stood up.
4:14 - Einemo is entirely gassed out. But he's still working sweeps.
4:15 - Herb Dean stands them up right as Russow passed to half-guard. Not sure I agree with that call. Einemo has been effective with the clinch, but Russow takes him down again.
4:17 - Einemo's gas tank deserted him, but he may have won the final round. Probably not. Not on my scorecard. 10-9 for Russow, giving it to him at 30-27. We'll see what the judges say.
4:20 - Russow neglects to put on a sponsor t-shirt, leaving us to assume that his main sponsors are his own man-boobs and kick-ass beer gut.
The judges scores being announced is just a formality, as Russow appears to have won the fight with ease. Einemo, the grappler, was most effective throwing knees and working from the Muay Thai clinch, while Russow was able to grind him out with top control and solid wrestling.
Aaaand Russow takes home the Unanimous Decision.
Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz
4:25 - Interesting fight here. Dunham should have the advantage on his feet, and Lentz is a grinder on the ground. He wants to be on top here, but Dunham has shown dynamic grappling before.
4:30 - And we're underway. Two southpaws here, but Lentz comes out orthodox.
4:32 - Lentz with a great slam there. Lentz seems willing to strike with Dunham, he's really looking to find a home for that overhand right. Might be why he's fighting orthodox, might have seen a hole in Dunham's defense on tape.
4:33 - Lentz's kicks are looking very crisp. He appears a little faster than Dunham, which I didn't think was the case.
4:35 - Best shots of the round right at the end for Dunham. Hard round to judge. I'd be inclined to give it to Dunham, given the offense he mustered AFTER the takedown. 10-9 Dunham.
4:36 - Round two underway. Dunham comes out aggressive and slams Lentz. Lentz seems to be looking for an omoplata a couple times, which I've seen pulled off in a fight about twice.
4:39 - That turned into a slugfest for a second there. Both guys landed well, but it looked like Dunham won the exchange.
4:40 - Judges love blood and judges love takedowns and ground and pound. Evan's drawn blood and gotten two takdowns. He's well on his way to taking round two for sure. Round one was a question though.
4:41 - Lentz's face is what a fighter's face is supposed to look like. Great TV here. I'll give it to Dunham, 10-9.
4:42 - And the Doctor stops the fight due to cuts. It looks like either a broken orbital for Lentz or a cut eye-lid, which are the two main things ringside doctors look for. Both can cause permanent eye damage. That was a gross cut.
Dunham wins TKO (doctor stoppage) after the second round.
Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman
5:04 - Fox clearly only owns the rights to one song. Are we watching football? Also it looks like Cleatus the robot football player has two brothers or something. Either way: Fighting robots! This is already better than all three Transformer movies.
5:05 - Jon Jones wants us to call him Tall Dark and Handsome. I refuse.
5:09 - Weidman took the fight on 11 days notice. Hopefully he was working on his grappling a ton before that, or else Maia should make quick work of him on the ground. Demian has shown improved striking of late as well. A huge step up for Weidman here. Let's see how he reacts.
5:13 - Curt Menefee doesn't appear to know much about MMA, judging by how he used certain terminology.
5:16 - Full disclosure: I love Demian Maia. Apologies if I am a homer for him.
5:20 - Still weird for me to be watching this on network television. I remember when you had to rent events on VHS because they were kind of illegal.
5:22 - We're underway in round one, as Weidman looks like both the bigger and faster fighter.
5:23 - I'm going to go with one update per round so I can focus more attention on these more important and exciting fights.
5:27 - Real interesting round. Weidman got a takedown but couldn't do anything with it as Maia got an underhook and hopped right up. Weidman probably landed a few more clean strikes than Maia, so I would say 10-9 for Weidman is what the judges will say. I'd give it a 10-10. Neither guy did anything significant.
5:33 - Another hard round to call. Maia landed a few very good strikes and was more active on the feet, but Weidman got a very nice takedown. After that though, Weidman wasn't able to do much, and never threatened with that guillotine. I'd call that a very close 10-9 round for Maia but I could see the call going either way. Weidman might have stolen it with that takedown.
5:39 - Weidman came on at the end but Maia landed far more strikes that round. It was sloppy and boring and not too much fun to watch, but 10-9 Maia is my call. No clue who the judges will give it to. Possible draw here.
5:40 - Not the kind of fight I think Dana White and the Ferttita's want leading off their network event. Both guys gassed out about midway through the second round, and it was sloppy and not very technical at any point. The only thing technically impressive about that fight were the first few takedowns that Weidman got. Could turn some viewers off.
Chris Weidman gets the split decision victory from the judges. It was an ugly fight, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the still-unbeaten Weidman has the biggest win of his career. Maia is a great notch to have on your belt.
Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping
5:49 - Two of my least favourite fighters. Sonnen is both a cheater and a dick, and Bisping is simply a dick. Can they both lose? I hope its a draw so neither gets a title shot.
5:54 - Sonnen's not used to being the crowd favorite. Could throw him off his game.
6:00 - That's a 10-9 round for Bisping. They spent the majority of the round in the standing clinch, and Bisping landed a bunch more in that position. Bisping also controlled the cage, pushing Sonnen up against the wall early and often. At a distance, Bisping was also the more effective fighter. Sonnen got the two early takedowns, but Bisping is one of the best in the game at getting back up. He took no damage off his back. Sonnen also still has visible backne, so he may not have learned his lesson regarding PEDs.
6:07 - Second round almost identical to the first, but Sonnen was able to keep Bisping down a bit longer this time. One thing is clear: despite taking the fight on only 11 days notice, Bisping is bringing his usual impeccable cardio to the fight. He clearly has the advantage there. 10-9 Bisping.
6:14 - Easy 10-9 round for Sonnen. I'm feeling a split decision, as I think there's no way all three judges agree on both of the first two rounds. Those were real close rounds that could come down to what individual judges feel is most important.
6:15 - Seriously, someone test Sonnen immediately. He's got such terrible skin.
6:16 - Chael is such a great talker. But it's very professional wrestling. Good stuff from Chael.
Sonnen takes home the unanimous decision, and let the "robbery" claim and whines begin. Very surprising decision to me.
Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
6:33 - This is a tough one to call. Evans has a striking advantage if you look at their histories, and they're both outstanding wrestlers. Davis is probably a bit more decorated in the wreslting department, but Evans has a black belt in BJJ, where Davis has I believe a purple belt. But every time he fights, Davis improves by leaps and bounds. As a result, it's hard to know what you're going to get out of Phil. He will be good, but how much has he improved since his last fight? This is a big step up, but it's a fight he can win if he can put Rashad on his back early and often.
6:36 - UFC has done a great job integrating Twitter into their marketing campaign, giving fans direct access to the fighters (something missing from sports throughout history until now) as well as giving the UFC a direct marketing line to their fans.
6:48 - Round one saw Evans and Davis feel each other out, but once Suga Rashad caught a kick from Davis, he was able to take the fight down and get into the mounted crucifix position. Davis was eventually able to escape, but it was Evans' round, 10-9. However, Davis hasn't faced much adversity in his career, as he has usually rolled right over guys. So he looked to handle that well, being underneath such an elite fighter.
6:54 - Rashad Evans is looking like he's better than Phil Davis at everything. Another 10-9 round for Rashad, with another successful takedown of the former national champion Davis. Evans got the better of it striking at a distance, got a takedown and easily passed guard, just like he did in round one. It's a five round fight, and both guys still look fresh. Rashad just seems in charge.
7:00 - Third round was the closest one yet, but I think Rashad did more damage. Davis is representing himself just fine, as he has not seemed to break under the attack of Evans, and is just hanging in there.
7:01 -| It's clear who the UFC wants to win, as they're really hammering this "former teammates" angle between Evans and Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
7:06 - Another round for Evans. Again, they spent the first three or so minutes boxing, and Evans got the better of it there. Davis made some solid takedown attempts, but in the end, Evans was able to take control on the ground.
7: 12 - Evans appeared to win that round as well. A likely 50-45 shutout for Rashad. Davis will be a better fighter for this loss though.
Evans gets the Unanimous 50-45, just as I said. He will fight Jon Jones for the title belt.
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