» Fighter: Aaron Riley

The Ultimate Fighter 9 lightweight champ “Real Deal” Ross Pearson (15-5-1) of England beat American Aaron Riley (28-12-1) by doctor’s stoppage at 4:38 of round two UFC 105 at M.E.N. Arena in Manchester Saturday.

“Aaron was a tough, tough opponent for my first bouth,” said Pearson after the win.  “Everything came off perfect.”

Read More About UFC 105 Results: England’s Ross Pearson Splits Open Aaron Riley…

The UFC unveiled Tuesday a ten-fight card for UFC 105 at M.E.N. Arena in Manchester November 14 with a previously announced light heavyweight main event between Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-10) and “Truth” Brandon Vera (11-3) atop the bout sheet.

Read More About 10 Fights Officially Announced for UFC 105 in Manchester…

The undercard of UFC 101 in Philadelphia Saturday saw two split decision upsets, one in the middleweight division and one at 170.

“Legionarius” Alessio Sakara (14 -7) upset recent UFC middleweight title challenger Thales Leites (14-3) in a three-round split decision, rendering Leites with consecutive disappointing losses.

And, “Doomsday” John Howard (12-3) won a three-round split decision over “Barn Cat” Tamdan McCrory (11-3), Howard’s second SD in the Octagon with no losses.

Read More About Sakara Upsets Leites, “Doomsday” For McCrory…

Fighters.com will post real-time results after each UFC 101 Declaration fight Saturday night. Post your predictions here before the fights. Logon often tonight and chat about the fights immediately after they end.

The fight card from Philadelphia includes:

“Prodigy” B.J. Penn (13-5-1) v “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-3) for the UFC lightweight strap

Fighters.com’s third-ranked light heavyweight Forrest Griffin (16-5) v UFC middleweight champ ““Spider” Anderson Silva (24-4) in 205-pound matchup

Read More About UFC 101 Real-Time Results at Fighters.com…

“Lil’ Heathen” Jeremy Stephens (15-3), “McLovin” Dustin Hazelett (13-4), Aaron Riley (26-10-1), and Jorge Gurgel (12-5), each pocketed an extra $60,000 on top of their regular fight purse Saturday night at UFC 91 in Las Vegas.

Lightweight Stephens earned “Knockout of the Night” with an epic third-round uppercut delivered to the chin of Rafael dos Anjos (12-1).

Welterweight Hazelett secured the second “Submission of the Night” of his career with his “armbar from the omoplata”, forcing “Barn Cat” Tamdan McCrory (10-2) in round one.

The back-and-forth lightweight scrap between Riley and Gurgel was “Fight of the Night”, which Riley took in a narrow unanimous decision.

American Top Team lightweight Aaron Riley (26-10-1) won a fast-paced unanimous decision over Jorge Gurgel (12-5) at UFC 91 in Las Vegas Saturday night.  All three judges scored the fight 29-28.

Both fighters had their moments with Gurgel seeming to edge on the cards. At one point, the opening round exploded into a flurry of punches from both fighters ended by a powerful body kick from Gurgel.

The second round started just like the round before with both fighters throwing the idea of a ground fight out of the window and swinging hard and constantly.  Riley threw a number of strong punches on Gurgel following a trip along the fence.  Riley looked to have control at the middle of the fight.  A powerful left hook to the jaw of Gurgel left him rattled only to recover and throw head kicks that were all blocked by Riley.

Both fighters returned to form in round three by throwing leather with no regard.  Riley eventually tagged Gurgel with a kick to the head that sent Gurgel into the cage.  Gurgel survived, but followed with tired action for moments.  The pace of the fight eventually caught up to both men, leaving them visibly weaker than round one.  The final round ended with two respectable punches from Riley and an attempted head kick.

Fighters.com phoned UFC lightweight Jorge Gurgel (12-4) to check-in on his preparation for his fight against Aaron Riley (26-10-1) at UFC 91 Las Vegas 15 November and our talk went places we never expected.

FIghters.com: Jorge, your scheduled to fight at UFC 91.  This event is being hyped by the industry insiders as a UFC card with potential to set record pay-per-view sales.  What’s your thoughts on being part of this event?

Jorge Gurgel: To be honest.  It’s a huge honor to be part of the UFC.  Period.  My dream in life has always been to be part of the UFC and fight in the UFC.  As far as the event being the highest pay-per-view event ever, for me it’s just another fight.  You know, there’s so much on the line for fighters now days.  Every performance counts. The next fight is the most important fight every time.   My job is always on the line. I am very focused on my fight and my teammate’s fights: Dustin Hazelett and Kenny Florian.  I am worried about our performances and how the three of us are going to do and then everything else will take care of itself. 

FIghters.com: Your opponent, Aaron Riley, is coming off two straight wins; but, it’s his first fight in the UFC since 2006.  Do you think Riley’s time away from the Octagon plays to your advantage?

Read More About UFC’s Gurgel: If I had to corner myself, I would have a heart attack….

BJJ black belt Jorge Gurgel (12-4) will face lightweight Aaron Riley (26-10-1) at UFC 91 on 15 November in Las Vegas, Gurgel told MMA Junkie Tuesday.

Gurgel is looking to rebound from a triangle-choke loss in July to “Magrino” Cole Miller (14-3) with only 12 seconds left in the fight.

Riley last fought in September, winning a unanimous decision over “Snake” Steve Claveau (7-7-1).