In the main event of the evening Carlos Condit was crowned the UFC Interim Welterweight champion with a unanimous decision in a five round affair 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 over Nick Diaz. The UFC decided that because Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was unable to defend his championship due to injury that an interim champion will be crowned in the mean time. Diaz was the favorite going into the bout, but Condit had a great game plan of constantly moving around, not allowing Diaz to corner him off against the cage and land combos. While moving around Condit scored points by landing leg kicks and soft combinations. Condit was always back peddling and counter striking, and in doing so frustrated Diaz. Diaz was always stalking Condit, but could keep him still long enough to land shots, and received shots in doing so. Diaz got a take down and took Condit’s back late in the fifth round, attempting both a rear naked choke and an arm bar, but it was too late. Some can make a strong point that Diaz won rounds 1,2, and 5, due to “octagon control” but Condit was awarded the bout for landing more strikes. After the bout an extremely frustrated Diaz announced his retirement from MMA, which is yet to be seen, as he stated: “I’m sick of this shit” due to a decision loss to an opponent that ran away from him for 25 minutes.

The man that broke the myth of Fedor Emelianenko; Fabricio Werdum returned to the UFC now that STRIKEFORCE has dissolved their Heavyweight division to take on “Big Country” Roy Nelson. Werdum won a very impressive unanimous decision victory over Nelson by showcasing his much improved standup skills. Werdum utilized the Muay Thai clinch, connecting with some of the most devastating knees ever, blooding up Nelson pretty bad.  Nelson proved to have an extremely tough chin and heart by not getting knockout, and continuing the full three rounds, in which he almost ended the bout with a standing guillotine. For this all out war both fighters received bonuses for “Fight of the Night” award.

Bantamweight phenom Renan Barao took out #2 ranked Bantamweight Scott Jorgensen in a three round war, that saw Barao dominate from bell to bell. Barao improves his record to 28-1, 3-0 in the UFC. Barao picked Jorgensen apart with his excellent kicks, and take down defense. With a sense of urgency, Jorgensen began to push the pace in the third round , but was unable to fend off the counter strikes of Barao. Barao won all three rounds, and now waits on the sidelines for a potential title shot.

4-0 undefeated newcomer and last minute replacement fighter for Ricardo Lamas, Max Holloway was now match for top 10 Featherweight Dustin Poirier in his UFC debut. Holloway opened up with his strong point; strikes forcing Poirier to take it to the mat. Once on the ground, Poirier attempted an arm bar, transitioned to a triangle and added an arm bar to tap the 20-year-old fighter with impressive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and earn the “Submission of the night” award.

Josh Koscheck had a very lackluster split decsion victory over Mike Pierce. Koscheck was able to defend the take down attempts of Pierce, get take downs of his own, and control the bout with his strikes. While measuring his strikes, Koscheck poked Pierce in the eyes multiple times, forcing referee Herb Dean to verbally caution him on three occasions. Why a point wasn’t deducted from Koscheck after the third warning is baffling.Koscheck stated post fight that this camp was his last a AKA, and would be doing his own thing from now on.

Ed Herman won his eighth UFC bout, with a rear naked choke submission over previously undefeated Clifford Starks. Herman pushed the pace in a brawl style fight, looking to finish early. Starks however continued to counter Herman, and connect with multiple straight rights, that stunned Herman in a very close first round. In the second round Herman gets a trip take down while clinching, moves to full mount. Starks turns top break free, but gives up his back, in which Herman slapped on a rear naked choke, forcing Starks to tap.

On the Facebook preliminary card, Steven Thompson made his UFC debut with in impressive fashion by getting the “Knockout of the night” award.  Thompson now 5-0 in MMA and 57-0 in kickboxing, kept the bout standing against the tough grappler Dan Stittgen. Thompson immediately went into a side karate stance, forcing Stittgen to back peddle with kicks. With an opening Thompson landed a classic karate fake low, kick high and lasted Stittgen across the face knocking him out cold with 47 seconds left in the first round. (Full UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit event results below.)

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UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit results:

Carlos Condit def. Nick Diaz via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) – wins interim welterweight title

Fabricio Werdum def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Josh Koscheck def. Mike Pierce via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Renan Barao def. Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ed Herman def. Clifford Starks via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:43

FX prelims:

Dustin Poirier def. Max Holloway via submission (mounted triangle-armbar) – Round 1, 3:23

Edwin Figueroa def. Alex Caceres via split decision (28-27, 27-28, 28-27)

Matt Brown def. Chris Cope via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:19

Matt Riddle def. Henry Martinez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Facebook prelims:

Rafael Natal def. Michael Kuiper via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Steven Thompson def. Dan Stittgen via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 4:13

After failing to capture the vacant Aggression MMA Welterweight champion in September, Ryan “Real Deal” Ford (16-4) is back in action looking for a victory against tough 8-1 fighter Tyson Steel. Prior to his loss in September Ford was riding a four fight win streak with notable victories over Pete Spratt and Karo Parisyan and looks to derail Steel’s two win win streak next Saturday. Hear his thoughts on his bout, his inability to fight in the United States and much more.

Also on tonight’s program Dave & Kevin will be previewing UFC 143, breaking down every bout and giving their predictions. All this and much more in 2 hours of MMAgic.

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UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit Fight Card (To be previewed tonight):

Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz (for interim welterweight title)

Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum

Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce

Renan Barao vs. Scott Jorgensen

Ed Herman vs. Clifford Starks

FX prelims:

Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier

Jorge Lopez vs. Matt Riddle

Alex Caceres vs. Edwin Figueroa

Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope

Facebook prelims:

Dan Stittgen vs. Stephen Thompson

Rafael Natal vs. Michael Kuiper

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Aggression MMA 9 (February 11th)Fight Card:

Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford vs. Tyson “The Man of” Steele
Victor “The Matrix” Valimaki vs. Tim Chemelli
Sheldon Westcott vs. Dave Cochran                                                                                    Stephan Beaumont vs. Nick Heynan                                                                                 Luke Harris vs. Elliot Duff
Greg Welsh vs. Matt Bagshaw
Chase Dagenhardt vs. Jarod McComb                                                                                       Rio Wells vs. Markhaile Wedderburn
Sy Jewett vs. Sarah Moraz
KB Bhullar vs. Simon Shirt
Paulo Azambuja vs. Adrian Cardinal

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Ringside Report Radio live at 10pm-Midnight on TSN Radio Montreal – CKGM-Radio.

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The main event of the evening saw Rashad Evans and Phil Davis go the full five rounds, with Evans coming out the victory. Davis threw a lot of kicks but it was his experience factor that won him the bout, by outclassing Davis. Evans was able to control the pace throughout the bout, putting Davis on his back, improving to a crucifix  position and landing strikes. Davis was visibly nervous and jumpy in the opening round, and fatigued thereafter. Evans was able to fend off the take down attempts from Davis, check his kicks, and connect with his striking combinations. Although Evans was unable to finish Davis in 25 minutes, he was clearly the superior fighter and won all five rounds.

In the co-main event of the evening Chael Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by unanimous decision in a bout that should have been five rounds. Sonnen convinced the judges with his powerful wrestling and lots of lay and prey that he should get the nod. One judge even scored the bout 30-27 for him, which is baffling as Bisping clearly won round two, and the first is debatable. Bisping displayed great take down defense, and was able to control Sonnen against the cage and connect with better strikes. The third and final round of the bout was all Sonnen, taking Bisping down, taking his back, followed by a mount. All in all, an unimpressive victory for Sonnen as even he didn’t believe that he won the bout.

In the other FOX televised bout, Damian Maia took on up and comer Chris Weidman in a three round affair that displeased the live crowd. The first round was a lot of circling and attempting to find each others range, with Weidman scoring a few take downs. The second was all Weidman controlling with strikes, take downs and submission attempts. Maia began to turn up the heat with some impressive, yet not powerful striking combos in both the second and the third. The third round seem to be going in the favor of Maia after he scored an early take down, but once the bout resumed standing both fighters looked sluggish and fatigued standing toe-to-toe with both Maia and Weidman connecting, but it was Weidman that came out full force in the last 60 seconds with three consecutive knees, followed by punches and kicks to sway the judges in a split decision victory.

The Fuel TV preliminary card proved to be much more exciting with Lavar Johnson making his UFC debut in impressive fashion by doing the impossible in knocking out Joey Beltran. In Beltran’s entire career he has gone 13-7, with none of his losses coming via knockout. In pass bouts, Beltran always displayed an iron chin, and high threshold for pain, always going the distance in his losses in the UFC. While both fighters exchanged punches, Johnson cornered Beltran against the change a delivered a barrage of uppercuts that dropped Beltran in the first round.

Charles Oliveira made his Featherweight debut in impressive fashion, as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace submitted Eric Wisely with a rarely used Calf Crusher. Oliveira began delivering bombs from a standing position in an attempt to get better positioning. Oliveira grabbed a leg and attempted a knee bar that Wisely was able to escape, but with Wisely’s leg still hooked, Oliveira pulled Wisely back putting an unbelievable amount of pressure on the calf forcing Wisely to tap.

Also impressive on the preliminary card was Cub Swanson’s knockout of George Roop, in a fantastic featherweight back and forth striking bout with both fighters delivering great combinations, and an impressive hip toss take down by Swanson in the first. Swanson did a great job at countering Roop’s reach, and closing the distance in order to deliver his strikes. In the second round Swanson connected with a huge right hand knocking the mouth piece out of Roop’s mouth, dropping him to the ground before following up with some ground and pound to end it. (Full UFC on FOX 2 event results below.)

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UFC on FOX 2 results:

Rashad Evans def. Phil Davis via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Chael Sonnen def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Chris Weidman def. Demian Maia via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

FUEL TV prelims:

Evan Dunham def. Nik Lentz via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00

Mike Russow def. John-Olav Einemo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Cub Swanson def. George Roop via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:22

Charles Oliveira def. Eric Wisely via submission (calf crusher) – Round 1, 1:43

Michael Johnson def. Shane Roller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Lavar Johnson def. Joey Beltran via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:24

Facebook prelims:

Chris Camozzi def. Dustin Jacoby via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 1:08

Friday night kicked off the weekend with the UFC on FX 1 from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee with the main event of Jim Miller versus Melvin Guillard. After coming off a tough three round war in August against Benson Henderson, Jim Miller looked like a man possessed when forced Guillard to tap out in just over two minutes of the very first round with a rear naked choke. The pace of the bout was set early on, but even with a change in camps Guillard’s ground skill were no match for New Jersey’s Miller.

Josh Neer made his comeback to the UFC with a Bang! Well sort of as he submitted Duane “Bang” Ludwig with a guillotine choke in the first round. Ludwig was striking hard and had appeared to rock Neer with a couple of strikes. Once the bout went to the ground, Neer slapped on a guillotine choking Ludwig out.

Mike Easton and Jared Papazian went toe-to-toe, literally with both fighters throwing tons of strikes in the Muay Thai clinch. The bout resembled a hockey with with both Featherweight throwing strikes at one another at a very intense pace. None of the strike were very effective as the bout lasted the full three rounds with Easton winning by majority decision, but definitely an impressive debut for Papazian.

Pat “HD” Barry displayed a very improved ground game in his bout against Christian Morecraft, and he was able to roll out of an arm bar early on. When the bout returned to a stand up war, Barry knockout out Morecraft with a left hook reminiscent of Mike Tyson.

On the under card Nick Denis destroyed Joseph Sandoval in 22 seconds with elbows knocking him out as the Ninja of Love gets his first UFC win. In his last UFC win Jorge Rivera picked a TKO victory over Eric Schafer in the second round, and retired post fight.(Full UFC on FX 1 event results below.)

ProElite continued the MMA action on Saturday night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event was headlined by Kendall Grove taking on Ikuhisa Minowa in a lackluster three round  unanimous decision. On the women’s side of things Sara McMann introduced herself to the world in a very one-sided beat down of Hitomi Akano.

In ProElite’s Hevayweight Grand Prix semi finals, Richard Odoms defeated Jake Heun in the first round with a rear-naked choke submission, and Ryan Martinez also advanced to the finals with a decision victory over Cody Griffin. (Full ProElite 3 event results below.)

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Friday Night Fights

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UFC on FX 1 results:

Jim Miller def. Melvin Guillard via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:04

Josh Neer def. Duane Ludwig via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:04

Mike Easton def. Jared Papazian via majority decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-29)

Pat Barry def. Christian Morecraft via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:38

FUEL TV Prelims:

Jorge Rivera def. Eric Schafer via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:31

Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:08

Charlie Brenneman def. Daniel Roberts via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Fabricio Camoes def. Tommy Hayden via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:03

Daniel Pineda def. Pat Schilling via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:37

Nick Denis def. Joseph Sandoval via KO (elbows) – Round 1, 0:22

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Saturday Night Fights

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ProElite 3 results:

Kendall Grove def. Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Sara McMann def. Hitomi Akano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Richard Odoms def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:56 – to advance to heavyweight grand prix final

Ryan Martinez def. Cody Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – to advance to heavyweight grand prix final

Patrick Cummins def. Tasi Edwards via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:01

Brant Schermerhorn def. Kaleo Gambill via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:45

Tatsuya Mizuno def. Ilima Maiava via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:47

Toby Misech def. Steven Saito via TKO (knees) – Round 1, 1:53

Collin Mansanas def. Bryson Kamaka via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:27

Sean Rush def. Jaymes Schulte via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:37

Ringside Report (www.ringsidereport.net) has been keeping tabs on the scheduled bouts and speculating a possible main event for the card. With the process of elimination of champions the only possible conclusion the Ringside Report crew could come up with was a possible Light Heavyweight championship bout between champion Jon Jones versus either  Rashad Evans if he is successful and unscathed after his bout the Phil Davis on January 28th, or the STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight champion Dan Henderson.

The UFC is still planning on coming to Montreal in 2012 but is uncertain when that will be, but it will definitely not be on March 24th. The UFC attempted to secure a date in April for the Bell Centre, but was unsuccessful.

With the consideration of Montreal being the first Canadian city to host the UFC, and one of the promotions largest markets, it was reported that due to scheduling complications and a desire to bring a championship card is most likely the reasoning for the delay.

In the main event of the evening Featherweight champion Jose Aldo returned home for his first appearance fighting in Brazil in the UFC. Aldo reminded the world why he is the best pound for pound featherweight in the world as many people were under the impression that challenger Chad Mendes would be his toughest test to date. Although, Mendes has superior wrestling skill, he was no match for Aldo’s leg kicks, as they appeared to hurt Mendes with each blow. In an attempt to dictate the bout, Mendes locked his arms around Aldo pinning him up against the cage  punishing his legs with knees. Aldo broke free and blasted Mendes with a knee to the face, dropping the challenger. The knee was followed up with one ground and pound strike until the bout was halted. With recent “poor” performances against Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian, Aldo stifled all critics with the knockout finish in the first round. After his win, Aldo sprinted into the crowd to celebrate with his country man, a first for the UFC  and a very cool moment in MMA history.

The most talked about fight on the card between Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson was possibly the most exciting 4:45 that any MMA fans could ask for. The bout was overshadowed with controversy due to Johnson being unable to make the 186lbs limit for Middleweight; instead he weighed in at 197, and because he was able to weigh under 205lbs on fight day the bout took place.  Even with those issues Johnson looked to be very game and a test for Belfort in a very back and fourth match up, both fighters took big shots from each other with a lot of quick stand ups from referee Dan Miragliotta. However, Belfort finished off Johnson with 15 seconds left on the clock with a rear naked choke submission.

Rousimar Palhares displayed some extravagant Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu against Mike Massenzio, as he dropped for a single leg take down, spun on his back to cinch in an awesome heel hook to end his bout in 63 seconds.

Erick Silva returned to the UFC for his second bout and looked to finish his bout with Carlo Prater faster than his debut with the company by 10 seconds, but with too many strikes to the back of Prater’s head the bout was declared a disqualification thus bringing Silva’s UFC record to 1-1.

Edson Barboza and Terry Etim went toe-to-toe in a fantastic stand up war with Barboza winning the first two rounds. In the third and final round of their bout Barboza landed a beautiful spinning heel kick right on the button, knocking Etim cold out in the knockout of the night (Our opinion).

On the FX prelim card, Thiago Tavares edged out Sam Stout with a unanimous decision victory. In the third round Stout rocked Tavares and looked to finish the fight, but Stout turned it on too late. If the bout would have been one minute longer Stout would have easily got a TKO victory.

Gabriel Gonzaga made his UFC return by submitting the debuting Ednaldo Oliveira with a first round rear naked choke; and Mike Pyle picked a part the returning Ricardo Funch in 82 seconds with a combination of knees and punches. (Full UFC 142 event results below.)

UFC 142 results:

Jose Aldo def. Chad Mendes via knockout (knee and punches) – Round 1, 4:59 – retains featherweight title

Vitor Belfort def. Anthony Johnson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:45

Rousimar Palhares def. Mike Massenzio via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:03

Carlo Prater def. Erick Silva via disqualification (illegal punches) – Round 1, 0:29

Edson Barboza def. Terry Etim via knockout (spinning heel kick) – Round 3, 2:02

FX prelims:

Thiago Tavares def. Sam Stout via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Gabriel Gonzaga def. Ednaldo Oliveira via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:22

Yuri Alcantara def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

Mike Pyle def. Ricardo Funch via TKO (knees and punches) – Round 1, 1:22

Facebook prelims:

Felipe Arantes def. Antonio Carvalho via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

On Jan. 1, 2011, Edgar and Maynard fought to a close draw. For almost a year UFC fans had to wait for the rematch to occur. Fortunately, the wait was well worth it. The third and final bout felt like deja vu at first with Maynard coming out strong in the first round with a furious onslaught. Maynard looked to have Edgar beat, but somehow Edgar was able to get up from the bombs Maynard was landing. In the second and third rounds Maynard looked gassed from his near win as Edgar started to gain momentum and started to take control of the fight. Unlike their new year’s day fight, this time there was a clear winner via TKO.

In possibly his last UFC title bout, Kenny Florian dropped weight to face UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Aldo has looked almost untouchable since winning the championship and continue to look so against Florian. Aldo used his lethal kicks to slow down Florian and nearly stuffed all of Florian’s takedown attempts. In the championship rounds it looked like a struggle for Florian to continue as the welts on his legs continue to grow in colour.

Leonard Garcia continued to give fans of his work another outstanding performance in his rematch with Nam Phan. Garcia won the last one by a controversial split decision. This one ended up in a unanimous decision victory in favour of Phan, but it still a very close and entertaining fight. Garcia knew that Phan had won the first round and came back firing wildly in order to win the last rounds. While Garcia ate a lot of wild jabs, he also gave his fair share as well. In the most dominate performance of the night, Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann in the second round. While it took Sonnen a few minutes there was no question he was going to win the fight right from the start, barely giving Stann any chance to hit him. Sonnen immediately challenged Anderson Silva following the win and that got a laugh from the Middleweight Champion.

Eight fights went the distance at UFC 136, making it the longest UFC event of all-time. Even with the long grueling bouts there are still great submission endings, which include the 47 second victory Joe Lauzon scored over Melvin Guillard. Although this is becoming a familiar pattern with the 2011 UFC DVDs, this was definitely a must see show and delivered in almost every aspect for MMA fans.

UFC 136: Edgar VS. Maynard III

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Run time of 300 minutes

Released on Dec. 20, 2011

Prelims

Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer

Zhang Tie Quan vs. Darren Elkins

Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic

Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago

Main

Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

Featherweight Championship José Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

Lightweight Championship Frankie Edgar  vs. Gray Maynard

Four more match ups have been announced of an expected 12 bout card including a Heavyweight bout pitting runner up of Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter Brandan Schaub (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) takes on seasoned veteran Ben Rothwell (31-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC). Also in Heavyweight action former STRIKEFORCE fighter Chad Griggs (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut against undefeated Travis Browne (12-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC).

In Featherweight action Mark “The Machine” Hominick (20-10 MMA, 3-2 UFC, 3-2 WEC) looks to bounce back from a two fight losing skid against well rounded Eddie Yagin (15-5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and in Lightweight action Mark Bocek (10-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) looks to use the momentum off his last win at UFC 140 against Nik Lentz, when he takes on the ever so tough Matt Wiman (14-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) who is also looking to use his momentum from his fight of the year candidate bout against Mac Danzig on October 1st.

UFC 145 card:

Che Mills vs. Rory MacDonald

Ben Rothwell vs. Brendan Schaub

Mark Bocek vs. Matt Wiman

Mark Hominick vs. Eddie Yagin

Travis Browne vs. Chad Griggs

(Be sure to check www.ringsidereport.net for more updates on UFC 145)

UFC 141 kicked of the weekend on Friday night with some great fights introducing Ross Pearson to the Featherweight Division, the return of Efrian Escudero to the promotion and the debut of Alistair Overeem.

Highlights from the facebook prelim card included Dong Hyung Kim’s one sided beat down of Sean Pearson, where Stun Gun attempted to pull a page out of Anderson Silva’s book, with a highlight reel crane kick finish. With several attempts from Kim, only one kick landed, dropping Pearson, but he was saved by the bell. To the surprise of many Pearson continued to battle it out throughout the third round, but the damage was done as Kim scored a unanimous decision. Although, Erian Escudero trains with great wrestlers like Aaron Simpson and Ryan Bader, he was no match Jacob Volkmann, as he spent the majority of the bout on his back. Volkmann welcomed Escudero back into the UFC with a tough decision loss.

On the final Spike TV prelims for the UFC, Ross Pearson kept his fight with dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Junior Assunsao standing, displaying superior striking for the win. Also in a a very close bout, last minute replacement Danny Castillo edged out Anthony Njokuani with a split decision.

On the main card many fighters looked impressive, with Jim Hettes imposing his will on Nam Phan in a one sided beat down that proved that Hettes is a serious player at 145; although not being able to finish Phan, Hettes delivered a humbling beat down that turned heads. Trash talking Nate Diaz delivered Donald Cerrone his first UFC loss ending his four fight win streak and stopped Cerrone from making five in a row in 2011. Johnny Hendricks shocked the world and Jon Fitch for that matter with a 12 second knockout in the opening round. In another impressive knockout, Alexander Gustafsson took out Vladimir Matyushenko, when Matyushenko ran into a jab.

In the main event of UFC 141 Alistair Overeem picked apart Brock Lesnar with his superior striking for a first round TKO. The former/current (never lost titles) the STRIKEFORCE & DREAM Heavyweight champion and 2010 K-1 Grand Prix champion forced Lesnar to drop after possibly breaking his rib with a combination of punches, knees and a solid left kick to the liver of the former UFC Heavyweight champion. Continuing the barrage of strikes, the referee stopped the action in under three minutes; Post fight, Lesnar announced his retirement from the UFC and MMA. (Full UFC 141 Event results below.)

When the UFC concluded, DREAM New Year 2011 began from the Saitama Super Arena with a card that included the semi-finals and finals of the DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix, Dream title defenses in the Lightweight and Featherweight divisions, kickboxing match ups, mixed rules match ups, and pro wrestling matches.

Fedor Emelianenko returned to Japanese MMA after a four year absence and reminded the MMA community why he was such a force in the Heavweight division. Emelianenko averted clinching and take down attempts early on and won in classic Fedor  fashion with a first round knockout of 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Satoshi Ishii.

DREAM Lightweight champion Shinya Aoki defended his title against Satoru Kitaoka in about that went the distance. Although, Aoki is riding a seven fight win streak, this was only his third title defense since winning the championship back in October of 2009. The other championship bout of the evening also came by way of judges decision as DREAM Featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya defeated Takeshi Inoue.

Bibiano Fernandes won the DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix, thus becoming the inaugural DREAM Bantamweight champion. Fernandes defeated Rodolfo Marques in the semi finals via unanimous decision, while Antonio Banuelos defeated Masakazi Imanari via split decision to advance to the finals. In the finals Fernandes destroyed Banuelos in a 1:21 of the very first round with a TKO victory.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia was slated to take on Brett Rogers in MMA action, but due to Rogers being unable to obtain a visa to go to Japan, the bout was scrapped and he took on Jerome Le Banner in a IGF rules pro wrestling match in a losing effort. Also in IGF rules match ups Josh Barnett defeated Hideki Suzuki via pin fall, Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Peter Aerts via leglock, and the tag team of Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Atsushi Sawada and Shinichi Suzukawa. (Full DREAM New Year 2011 Event results below.)

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UFC 141 results:

Alistair Overeem def. Brock Lesnar via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:26

Nate Diaz def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Johny Hendricks def. Jon Fitch via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:12

Alexander Gustafsson def. Vladimir Matyushenko via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:13

Jim Hettes def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)

Spike TV prelims:

Ross Pearson def. Junior Assuncao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Danny Castillo def. Anthony Njokuani via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Facebook Prelims:

Dong Hyun Kim def. Sean Pierson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jacob Volkmann def. Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Diego Nunes def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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DREAM: New Year 2011 results:

MMA Bouts:

Fedor Emelianenko def. Satoshi Ishii via KO (punch) – Round 1, 2:29

Champ Shinya Aoki def. Satoru Kitaoka via unanimous decision – (retains lightweight title)

Champ Hiroyuki Takaya def. Takeshi “Lion” Inoue via unanimous decision - (retains featherweight title)

Bibiano Fernandes def. Antonio Banuelos via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:21 – (to win world bantamweight grand prix and title)

Megumi Fujii def. Karla Benitez via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:15

Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kazuyuki Miyata via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:54

Ryo Chonan def. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai via unanimous decision

Bibiano Fernandes def. Rodolfo Marques Diniz via unanimous decision – bantamweight grand-prix semifinal

Antonio Banuelos def. Masakazu Imanari via split decision – bantamweight grand-prix semifinal

Yusup Saadulaev def. Hideo Tokoro via KO (slam) – Round 1, 0:42 – bantamweight grand-prix reserve match

IGF Rules/Pro Wrestling Bouts:

Josh Barnett def. Hideki Suzuki via pin fall

Kazuyuki Fujita def. Peter Aerts via leglock

Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata def. Atsushi Sawada and Shinichi Suzukawa (Tag Team Match)

Jerome Le Banner def. Tim Sylvia via middle kicks

DREAM/K-1 Mixed Rules Bout:

Katsunori Kikuno def. Yuichiro Nagashima via TKO (punches) – 2:34 – Round 2

K-1 Max Rules Bouts:

Yuta Kubo def. Nils Widlund via TKO (head kick & knee) – 1:10 – Round 3

Masaaki Noiri def. Kengo Sonoda via Unanimous Decision

Be sure to tune into Ringside Report Radio tonight as Dave & Kevin will wrap up the results of STRIKEFORCE: Melendez vs. Masvidal and be reviewing the year that was 2011 with Jonathan Chaimberg & MMAJunkie’s John Morgan joining the panel for the discussion.

Year in Review Categories included:
-Fighter of the Year
-KO of the Year
-Submission of the Year
-Top Stories of the Year
-Best in each weight class
& much more

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Ringside Report Radio live at 10pm-Midnight on TSN Radio Montreal – CKGM-Radio.

How to listen:

In Montreal? listen on 990am on your radio dial.

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