The Renzo Gracie black belt will be taking on former contender Rousimar Palhares at “UFC on Versus 3″, which takes place on March 3 at the KFC Yum! Center in Lousiville, Ky.

Branch is on a roll in the UFC, coming on the heels of back-to-back wins inside the octagon defeating tough talent in the likes of Tomasz Drwal and Rich Anttonito, both by dominant decision victories.

The successive victories helped heal the sting of defeat that Dave suffered in his intial inception into organization, when he was knocked out with a highlight reel slam by the now infamous Gerald Harris last July at UFC 116.

Hoping to go three in-a-row in the talent rich division, Branch will have to first get past arguably his toughest challenge to date, when he takes on Brazilian Top Team product Rousimar Palhares.

“Toquinho” saw a three-fight win streak inside the octagon snapped when he lost a somewhat controversial bout with former title challenger and perennial contender Nate Marquardt. The two fighters met last September for “UFC Fight Night 22″ where after a tentative few minutes were spent on the feet, Palhares committed to a takedown and in a scramble tried to secure a leg lock submission, which has become somewhat of a trademark for the Brazilian whom has successfully tapped out five of his opponents with such a maneuver. Rousimar complained to the referee that Marquardt was allegedly “greased” and once Nate saw his opportunity, he pounced and finished off the Jiu-Jitsu black belt at 3:28 inside of the first-round.

Ring side officials checked Marquardt after the fight and found no wrong doing, and Rousimar along with his camp apologized for any allegations.

With the loss in the past, Palhares will now hope to begin a new win streak and ascension through the ranks if he can get past Branch, who coupled with his Jiu-Jitsu skills has shown his great kickboxing skills inside the octagon as well.

The reason for Ferreira’s removal from the card has been pointed to the fact that many of Brazilian’s close family and friends are among those who have suffered in the torrential storms that have occurred in his native country, and left him in no proper condition to compete. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.

Fighters Only initially reported the withdrawal of Alexandre earlier this week, with Heavy.com following up with the addition of Branch to the middleweight tilt.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the new middleweight fight? Both are expolsive fighters, however with Palhares likely to work the fight to the mat whereas Branch would like to keep it on the feet, we could see the old time classic “striker vs. grappler” contest (although both men have obvious Jiu-Jitsu prowess). Who do you think takes this fight and moves up the ranks? Sound off in the comment section below.

First up we head to MMA Weekly, which reports that former WEC Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles is set to make his MMA return and his UFC debut at “UFC on Versus 3” against Damacio Page. Bowles was expected to face Wagnney Fabiano back at WEC 52, but had to pull out due to an injury. Bowles has yet to compete since losing his WEC Bantamweight Championship in March 2010. Meanwhile, Damacio Page most recently lost out to Demetrious Johnson by way of guillotine choke at WEC 52. The loss snapped a two-fight win-streak. It should also be noted that these two have faced each other before, with Bowles beating Page by submission at WEC 35, which took place over two years ago.

We then head to MMA Junkie for a report that states that Rousimar Palhares will more than likely fight Alexandre Ferreira at “UFC on Versus 3”. Palhares most recently suffered a very deflating loss when Nate Marquardt TKO’d him, snapping Palhares’ three-fight win-streak in a key Middleweight showdown. Palhares is best known as a submission expert, with his heel hook in particular leading to the downfall of many of his opponents. Palhares will face a fellow veteran and submission expert when he locks horns with Ferreira, who holds a record of 18-7 with seventeen submissions. Ferreira most recently lost via TKO to Vladimir Matyushenko back in November.

I think Bowles/Page 2 should be an excellent addition to the “UFC on Versus” card. Bowles is a former champion with good reason: he’s a very gifted athlete that knows how to put it all together and has only one defeat on his pro MMA record. Damacio Page may be up-and-down on a per-event basis, but he’s got a lot of heart and that’s carried him through some very tough fights while giving us fans some pretty entertaining moments. No doubt this fight will be a brawl, but I also have no doubt that it’ll be a good one.

Likewise, I think Palhares/Ferreira will be a mostly one-dimensional (though entertaining) fight. I can’t wait to see what happens when this one goes to the ground, since I know for certain that Palhares has the striking advantage. Hopefully we’ll see a back-and-forth ground war rather than two high-level grapplers nullifying each other on the ground and not doing a whole lot. In the end, I think that this fight has a lot more potential to entertain than it does to disappoint, so I’ll definitely be tuning in to see what happens.

And what about you, fans and friends? Do you think the UFC’s efforts to make their “UFC on Versus” events more memorable fully makes up for the lack of events we’ll be seeing on Versus in 2011? And what are your early thoughts on Bowles/Page and Palhares/Ferreira?

The inconsistent middleweight has been on the cusp of top contender status but has fell at each big step up in competition.

At UFC 88 in September of 2008, Palhares, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, faced former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson. Rousimar had his moments, however Henderson defeated the grappling ace by unanimous decision, setting him back in the crowded middleweight division.

Most recently, “Toquinho” suffered his second loss in the octagon recently against former title challenger Nate Marquardt, and since the defeat looks to tangle with the Greg Jackson product once again to vindicate the defeat.

“We’ve signed a new contract for Toquinho today, he’ll fight four more times, it’s renewed and we are on the expectations to know about his next fight”, said former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante while speaking with TATAME.com, who doubles as Palhares’ trainer and manager.

Rousimar splashed onto the UFC scene garnering a 7-1 record outside the octagon, with a first-round submission victory over former top contender Ivan Salaverry. With the victory, Palhares picked up “Submission of the Night” honors for his efforts and set a tone for his style in the middleweight division.

Of his four wins inside the the cage, Palhares has submitted three of his opponents, two of which came via heel hook.

The 31-year-old present a formidable opponent for Nate Marquardt, who in his fight just before Rousimar was out grappled by Chael Sonnen. However, after Palhares paused mid-fight when he announced to the referee that Marquardt was supposedly “greased”, Nate seized the opportunity and TKO’d Rousimar for the win. The controversy was later averted when it was discovered that Nate was not in fact using any banned substances. Since the loss, the Brazilian Top Team product has since been itching to get back in the cage, preferably against Nate.

“He’s very motivated, he know that he let the victory escape, he made a mistake, but these things happen in life, but he’s crazy to fight Nate again”, said Bustamante.

“He wants this fight pretty bad and he’s training for it. Rousimar is conditioned and training every day as if he had a fight schedules. Our expectations are the best possible ones and I’m sure that Toquinho and these new guys from BTT will bring the Brazilians many reasons to be happy”.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of Rousimar? Obviously, a bout with Marquardt is unlikely, but who would you like to see him tangle with? Sound off in the comment section below.

According to Sherdog, Palhares has recently signed a new four-fight contract with the world’s largest and most competitive Mixed Martial Arts organization. The article also revealed that a source close to Palhares says that Palhares is focused on securing a rematch with Nate Marquardt sooner rather than later.

Since debuting in the UFC in May 2008, Palhares has worked his way up to a 4-2 record in the UFC, only losing to the aforementioned Nate Marquardt as well as Dan Henderson. Clearly, Palhares only loses to some of the best the UFC has to offer. Of Rousimar’s four wins, three have come by way of submission, and two have come by way of his favorite submission, the heel hook. As a whole, Palhares has scored four heel hook submissions in his time as a professional Mixed Martial Artist.

I think the possibility does indeed exist that Rousimar Palhares could right the ship and have a great 2011 before all is said and done. Palhares has found himself in a couple of controversial spots recently, but he’s always taken them in stride. He apologized profusely both for holding the submission against Tomasz Drwal and for insinuating that Nate Marquardt’s leg was greased. I don’t think it’s fair to say that Rousimar Palhares is a dirty fighter. He just seems to lose his head a bit when he steps into the Octagon. But if you took that away from him you’d be taking away one of the things that makes him so explosive and entertaining to watch.

There are still a bevy of opponents left for Palhares in the UFC’s growing Middleweight division. I’d like to see him take on a fighter like Chris Leben, or Alan Belcher, or perhaps even Yoshihiro Akiyama. Palhares matches up very well with almost any type of fighter, whether that fighter is striking-based,  wrestling-based, or grappling-based. Palhares is good at just about everything and great on the ground, so make no mistake, he can still be a big threat at Middleweight.

2011 might just be a huge year for Rousimar Palhares. He’s been trying to set himself up as the next big championship challenger, but falling just short of that goal against marquee opponents. With a renewed sense of focus as well as his always-dangerous killer instinct, I think Palhares has it in him to win all four of the fights he’s just signed himself up for. But if worse comes to worse, Palhares may find himself firmly embedded as a championship gatekeeper before the new year is through. It’ll be interesting to find out which version of Rousimar Palhares will become the dominant version in 2011.

And what about you, fans and friends? Who would you like to see Rousimar Palhares fight, and how successful do you think he’ll be in 2011?

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 episode 1 scored a 1.3 household rating with an average of 1.6 million viewers, and was the top-ranked show on cable with males ages 18 to 49. This number is down from Season 11’s opener, which landed a 1.8 household rating and an average of 1.9 million viewers. Fight Night 22 was able to draw an average of 1.2 million viewers and peaked with 1.6 million for the main event.

I can understand how people will point at TUF 12’s opening number and predict a rough season ahead when it scored so poorly in comparison to Season 11 and especially the juggernaut that was Season 10, but I think a little understanding is called for. Season 10 and 11 featured can’t-miss television from the get-go. Season 10 had Kimbo Slice, an incredibly controversial fighter that many thought would never step foot in the UFC in a million years. Season 11 saw the next chapter in the Tito Ortiz/Chuck Liddell rivalry, a rivalry that will undoubtedly go down one day as one of the most bitter feuds in MMA history.

And Season 12? Season 12 has an all-Lightweight cast at a time when the lighter weights are still unfairly fighting off the stigma that less muscles equals less fighting ability. And the pairing of Josh Koscheck and Georges St. Pierre certainly doesn’t help: GSP is many things, including one of the best MMA fighters of all time, but he’s never been all that charismatic.

Ultimately, this is one of those seasons that has to grow on you. I didn’t expect this season to immediately come firing out of the gate, and I think that the ratings can be very deceiving when it comes to predicting how successful a show will be. Season 10 gave us some of the biggest ratings ever while also giving us the absolute worst fights in TUF history. If this season gains steam, which I think it can, the ratings should improve quite a bit. So I think it’s far too early to say that this season won’t be successful. It deserves a fighting chance, and I’m more than willing to give it one.

And one last thing: Spike TV and the UFC must be positively giddy that TUF 12 was the most-watched show between males ages 18 to 49. That’s their exact market! The UFC may not be a ratings powerhouse, Spike TV may not be the biggest cable channel, but both play to their strengths and both benefit because of it. It may be one giant sausage-fest every time a UFC event airs on Spike TV, but to the sides of those sausages are pockets, and those pockets have money, and that money is going into Spike and the UFC.

When you consider it that way, TUF 12 was actually a rather positive success, as was Fight Night 22. Both events saw some good fights, some entertaining action, and all the MMA goodness we’ve come to love and expect from the world’s biggest, most elite promotion. I personally can’t wait to see what’s in store for this season’s TUF, and while not the most exciting card of the year, I never once flipped the channel from Fight Night 22. It may not have been a gigantic ratings smackdown, but the UFC scored another victory Wednesday night.

And what about you, fans and friends? What do you think the ratings tell us about the first episode of TUF Season 12 and Fight Night 22?

Here’s what Marquardt had to say at the Fight Night 22 post-fight press conference (via MMA Mania): “It’s kind of disappointing to have to try and defend yourself over something like that. I’m not a dirty fighter, and I don’t cheat. I don’t grease … Basically, I believe what happened was I had a good sweat going before the fight. He felt as I turned out of the ankle lock that it slipped a little bit, and he felt that I had greased or something, so I’m sure he was a little upset.”

Famed MMA trainer Greg Jackson, the man behind the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Rashad Evans, recently gave his thoughts on the situation to Sherdog.com. Jackson is also Marquardt’s trainer, and he had this to say: “I’ve never seen Nate follow a gameplan so well. We’ve been training that counter [to] that ankle lock for two months. So just to be sure, because I do not cheat, I had the ring doctor check, I had the cornermen check, I told every single commissioner in there, I said ‘check’. I wanted everybody to check. Everything came out clear. Everything is 100% BS as far as that’s concerned. We’re not going to grease to win. Get over it. Nate Marquardt is a great fighter.”

I hope those two quotes settle it once and for all: there is no “GreaseGate II”. We’re getting into some serious conspiracy theory nonsense if we start to believe that there’s some grand plot afoot where Marquardt greases to steal a win and the commissioners, the ring doctors, and everyone else who had the power to catch him were co-conspirators in on the plan. I think Palhares has nobody to blame but himself. Thinking your opponent cheated does not magically grant you the ability to call a time-out. Palhares forgot to defend himself, Marquardt made him pay for it, and the rest is history. The case is closed. Marquardt inches one step closer to a title shot while Palhares continues to struggle against top-division athletes.

Now, let it be known that I don’t have a problem with Rousimar Palhares as a fighter. I don’t even have a problem with him insinuating that Marquardt greased. My problem with Palhares is how he handled the situation: instead of finishing the round and voicing his concerns during the in-between rest period, which would have allowed a thorough examination to be conducted before the fight went into round 2, Palhares was so angry that Marquardt slipped out of his patented heel hook that he wanted the fight to come to an immediate halt. It doesn’t work that way. Palhares has no one to blame but himself. He’s not the victim in this situation. If anything, Marquardt is the victim, because some fans will never let a thing like this die even when all evidence clearly points to there being no wrong-doing. It’s just the nature of a conspiracy theorist nutjob.

And what do you think, fans and friends? Do you see this having any sort of negative impact on Nate Marquardt’s title aspirations? And where do you think both men go from here?

1. Yes, Rousimar Palhares should know better.  Don’t stop fighting mid-round without referee assistance.  However, I still feel odd about Marquardt’s victory.  He did exactly what he should do and capitalize on his opponent’s mistake, but it just doesn’t feel right that Palhares felt genuinely “wronged,” albeit incorrectly, and consciously stopped fighting.  Marquardt was cleared of greasing and I am not saying he did anything wrong, but, in no way was Marquardt dominating and the fight was up for grabs.  Horrible mistake for Palhares and I don’t feel Marqaurdt is clearly the better fighter since this ended in such a clumsy, odd, bizarre, uncomfortable way.  Hopefully, Palhares gets back to winning ways and we see this fight again some day.

2. Charles Oliveira, 20, and Rory MacDonald, 21 …  two MMA stars that the UFC is going to hold on to with all they have.  Both are wildly talented and exciting.  Yes, MacDonald lost his last fight to Carlos Condit, but he looked great for two rounds at UFC 115.  As important as their skills and charisma, is their nationality and age.  Oliveira, Brazilian and MacDonald, Canadian.  The UFC is all about international expansion and these two studs can be counted on for years to come to produce wins, excitement, and box office/PPV returns.  The great MMA youth movement has begun!

3. Cole Miller looked great.  And, he added fuel to the anti-wrestling fire in MMA.  His post fight interview compared some wrestlers to NFL football teams running out the clock to protect a lead instead of going for a game ending score.  I can’t help but think the Nik Lentz win over Andre Winner at UFC 118 has sparked this growing discontent.  It fueled my editorial recently as well as the UFC’s Dan Hardy to rail against wrestlers for stalling and not engaging.

4. Jim Miller is rugged.  That word just kept coming to me as he was fighting.  No huge mistakes, forward pressure, durable, consistent, improving.  Sounds like another Jersey lightweight down the shore who now owns some pricey UFC hardware.

5. World Class MMA on Wednesday night for free is cash money.  I know Dana White makes more off the PPV shows, but getting the sport out there to all the fringe viewers and skeptics is what keeps this beast growing.  More Spike TV UFC events, please!

6. Does Chael Sonnen ever stopping running his mouth?  I have enjoyed his talk as much as anybody – but he seems always prepped with a quip to the point of annoyance now.  Spike TV camera’s showed him cage-side but never let him finish, as he seemed at the ready to launch into another rant.

7. When Spike TV shows a clearly taped interview from earlier in the day they should take down their “Live” bug on the upper left corner of the screen and have the host indicate, “earlier today we spoke with …”  Per the Mir and Cro Cop interviews.

8. Referee John Shorley must give a fighter five minutes to recover from a groin shot.  He was pushing Oliveira to start fighting when he was not ready after Escudero landed his low blow.

9. Ultimate Fighter nugget:  Andy Main won his fight to get in the house.  He is in the Jim Miller / AMA camp in Jersey.  Tough as nails from what I am told, and one to watch.

—

What were your big takeaways from the fights on Wednesday night?

Twitter: @john_moody

Here’s how it all broke down for UFC Fight Night 22: “Marquardt vs. Palhares”: Nate Marquardt defeats Rousimar Palhares by TKO due to strikes at 3:28 of Round 1. Charles Oliveira defeats Efrain Escudero via Submission due to a Rear Naked Choke at 2:25 of Round 3. Jim Miller defeats Gleison Tibau via Unanimous Decision. Cole Miller defeats Ross Pearson via Submission due to a Rear Naked Choke at 1:42 of Round 2. Yves Edwards defeats John Gunderson via Unanimous Decision. Kyle Kingsbury defeats Jared Hamman via Unanimous Decision. Rich Attonito defeats Rafael Natal via Unanimous Decision. Dave Branch defeats Tomasz Drwal via Unanimous Decision. Brian Foster def. Forrest Petz via TKO due to strikes at 1:07 of R1. Anthony Waldburger defeats David Mitchell via Unanimous Decision.

I really liked Fight Night 22’s main event. It was a fast and frenetic bout that had a very low amount of stalling. I really liked how Marquardt did a great job of defending the takedown, and I thought he was in serious trouble when Palhares got him to the ground. Remember, my early prediction for this fight would be Nate pulling out the Unanimous Decision or Palhares pulling out the shocking submission in Round 1. I think Palhares dug his own grave when he tried to have the fight stopped after complaining that Marquardt had greased his leg, which allowed for Nate to seize the moment, land an unprotected shot that hit Palhares right on the money, and then TKO him.

There really is no cause for controversy in this match, as Marquardt was cleared of any wrongdoing immediately after the fight was finished. Both the on-sight doctor as well as an official athletic commission representative gave Marquardt the all-clear. Marquardt also explained in a post-fight interview that he had warmed up a lot before the fight, meaning that he had purposely came out sweaty in order to improve his chances of escaping submissions. And even if Marquardt did grease, Palhares should have known better than to immediately call for a break. He should have stayed active, finished the round, and then voiced his concerns. Instead, he temporarily forgot to defend himself and he paid the price. Case closed.

In other UFC Fight Night 22 news, I was really impressed by Charles Oliveira, who put on a great performance against the very tough Efrain Escudero. I honestly would have given the fight to Escudero had it gone to the judges, even though I’ll freely admit that it would have been a very close call. With a big win over Escudero, Oliveira has further justified his hype and gone a long way towards justifying his status as a can’t-miss prospect. Efrain Escudero continues to struggle with the big league after winning the eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, but I think he has some good fights left in him.

Overall, it was a good event, although one filled with decisions. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Nate Marquardt, as I think he’s now closer than ever to getting one more crack at the UFC Middleweight Championship. Palhares should continue to rip off the limbs of lesser-skilled opponents, but I honestly see him continuing to run into trouble when put against an athlete that’s at the top or near the top of the division. And Charles Oliveira proved once and for all that he’s the real deal, so I’ll be eagerly looking forward to his next bout.

And what about you, fans and friends? Now that it’s in the history books, what did you think of Fight Night 22?

Courtesy of Sherdog.com, here’s how it all broke down: Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Rousimar Palhares (186), Efrain Escudero (159) vs. Charles Oliveira (154), Jim Miller (155.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (154), Cole Miller (156) vs. Ross Pearson (156), Yves Edwards (155) vs. John Gunderson (156), Jared Hamman (205) vs. Kyle Kingsbury (206), Rich Attonito (185) vs. Rafael Natal (186), David Mitchell (170.5) vs. Anthony Waldburger (171), Brian Foster (170.5) vs. Forrest Petz (170), Tomasz Drwal (185.5) vs. Dave Branch (186)

Co-main event participant Efrain Escudero showed up four pounds overweight for his 155-pound Lightweight tilt, and will forfeit a whopping twenty percent of his fight purse to his opponent, Charles Oliveira. Escudero most recently rebounded from the first loss of his professional career at UFC Fight Night 20 with a Unanimous Decision win over Dan Lauzon at UFC 114. Charles Oliveira most recently made a successful UFC debut at UFC on Versus 2, beating Darren Elkins by Armbar.

I think Escudero honestly fell into the same trap that Paul Daley recently became a victim of: he’s fighting at his natural weight and may have undercompensated because of it. I’m usually in favor of telling a fighter who misses weight to stop fooling himself/herself and fight in their natural weight class, but I don’t feel the same for Daley or Escudero. When you see Escudero fight, he looks like a natural Lightweight: he doesn’t have a bulky frame, his bread and butter has always been his quickness and athleticism. I honestly believe that Escudero would look very out-of-shape if he ever tried to make the transition to Welterweight. He just probably got a little lax knowing that he didn’t have a difficult weight cut in store. This should be a pretty humbling learning experience for him.

In regards to the card itself, I’m definitely looking forward to this one. As I’ve said in the past, I’ve got a good feeling about Nate “The Great” beating Palhares. Even with the loss to Chael Sonnen, I think Marquardt will once again challenge for a title shot in the near-future. If he gets past Palhares and continues to stay active and win, I think he’d be next in line for a championship opportunity once Sonnen gets his rematch with Anderson Silva and either Vitor Belfort or Yushin Okami get their shot at the winner.

The rest of the card looks solid from top-to-bottom, and the icing on the cake is that we get another season of TUF directly afterwards. September 15 should be a great day for MMA, so I’m anxiously anticipating it.

And what about you, fans and friends? Are you looking forward to Fight Night 22? And who do you think will come out the big winners and losers from this event?

In an interview with Fighter’s Only, here’s what Palhares had to say on the situation: “Murilo [Bustamante] always told me to wait until the referee stops the fight. He had problems with [fake taps] in the past and Anderson almost had the same problem in his last fight. It’s not that I want to hurt anyone but I am trying to be fast with my submissions so the referee needs to be fast as well, to stop the fight. My opinion is that the referee in my last fight was too far away and took too long to stop the fight. If he had been closer then he could have stopped it right away and then we would not even be having this conversation at all!”

I think Palhares has a point about the referee being in a bad position to end the fight. One could argue that the referee was simply giving both men room to work, but that’s a debate for another time. What’s not up for debate is the fact that the referee had to sprint all the way back to both men while Drwal was already tapping out. It would have made a lot more sense if the referee had given the fighters room, noticed the submission attempt, and then closed in to see if it was going to result in a tap-out. Instead, the referee waited until Drwal tapped out to rush in and break the submission.

The problem with that, though, is that Palhares wouldn’t let go of the submission even after the referee had stopped the fight. Palhares kept wrenching it in even as the referee was trying to break it up. Palhares didn’t immediately let go when the referee stopped the fight, and due to that, I think he should be rightly criticized. You can call it “getting caught up in the heat of the moment”, but Palhares is a professional fighter fighting in the organization that sets the benchmark for MMA as a whole. He should have known better.

But at the end of the day, Palhares has served his time. He was handed a ninety-day submission and has served it without controversy. Tomasz Drwal’s career isn’t over, in fact, he’s scheduled to compete at the very same UFC Fight Night 22 that Palhares is headlining. So, honestly, I don’t hate Rousimar Palhares. And if we’re being completely honest, I don’t “anything” Rousimar Palhares. I’m rooting for Nate Marquardt because I’m a fan of “The Great” and I think he’ll one day get another crack at Middleweight gold. I want to see Palhares get KO’d, maybe even KTFO’d, but not because I think he’s a dirty fighter.

And what about you, fans and friends? Where do you stand- is Palhares a dirty fighter or a victim of circumstance? And how do you think he’ll do against Marquardt?

UFC Fight Night 22: “Marquardt vs. Palhares” has seen a string of injuries practically play havoc with the announced card, resulting in several major to minor shake-ups. As it stands now, the official event line-up is as follows: Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares, Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira, Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau, Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller, Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury, Tomasz Drwal vs. Dave Branch , Rich Attonito vs. Rafael Natal, Anthony Waldburger vs. David Mitchell, and Brian Foster vs. Forrest Petz.

I like this card for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the main event fight was scheduled to be on a Pay-Per-View, and personally, I think that’s very justified. Nate Marquardt is an awesome fighter and he’s creeping closer and closer to another shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship, even if his recent loss to Chael Sonnen knocked him back a not-insignificant number of steps. Palhares is gaining a lot of steam as well, and he’s even got a little bit of controversy behind him, since many believed that he held onto his fight-winning heel hook on Tomasz Drwal for far too long. A big win could prove very beneficial to both fighters, so it should be an awesome main event.

I also like the fact that this show highlights the lighter weight classes. There’s only one fight above Middleweight, and it’s on the preliminary card. There are three Middleweight, three Lightweight, and two Welterweight showdowns. For an event that’s traditionally been designed to get you pumped for the show that immediately follows it, betting on the lighter weight classes is a good gamble, especially when you consider that all eight of the fighters scheduled to compete on the televised card have a majority of their wins by stoppage.

In regards to what I see happening, here’s where I stand. I think Marquardt will take a hard-fought but Unanimous Decision, or Palhares will pull out a quick submission in Round 1. Marquardt is strong, but Palhares has never been knocked out. I think Marquardt has very good submission defense, so I think it’s very likely that Marquardt will keep it standing and out-strike his way towards the victory. But if Palhares can find a way to make a submission stick, I think it could be a very early night for Marquardt.

I think Escudero and Oliveira will fight to a Split Decision. Both men have a majority of their wins by submission, so they’ll nullify each other on the ground. Oliveira has five more (T)KO’s than Escudero, but Efrain is one tough fighter and I think it’s far more likely that he’ll gut it out than get stopped. It’ll be tough to call, but I think Efrain will be the one with his hand raised by the end of the night.

I think the two Millers will win both their fights. Tibau has always hit some big stumbling blocks in his career right as he starts to gain momentum, and Jim Miller is on a real hot streak. Ross Pearson has looked pretty good since winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 9, but Cole Miller has a lot more experience inside the Octagon and, even if he loses, should be Pearson’s toughest test to date. I’m thinking Jim Miller will win by Unanimous Decision while Cole Miller will pull out a Submission in Round 2.

And what about you, fans and friends? How excited are you for Fight Night 22, and who’ve you got winning?

The news, which was highlighted previously on Fighters.com , where according to Vitor himself on Twitter, “this year I am not going to fight for the title because the champion (UFC Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva) is hurt but November we will be in action for sure that is what I can say.”

Silva, who was later reported injured prior to his bout with contender Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, is on an indefinite hiatus away from the cage. Anderson sustained fractured ribs before his last outing with Sonnen, while training with Judoka Satoshi Ishi and former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

So, that definitely rules out Anderson for the rest of the year, and Vitor accordingly. But what about Sonnen? According to Belfort, in an interview with Sherdog.com, Chael is off the table as well for the surging middleweight, who began his career at 185 initially with a victory over Terry Martin under the Affliction banner in 2008, knocking out the UFC veteran on strikes in the second round.

The Brazilian followed up the performance with another commanding stoppage over the well traveled and well respected Matt Lindland, knocking out the former top middleweight in just 37 seconds, in January of 2009.

In his UFC return after the collapse of the aforementioned promotion Affliction, Belfort immediately put himself on the map when he needed just over three minutes to top former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 103 in Dallas, Tex., knocking out the former math teacher turned MMA fighter last September.

Since then, Belfort’s absence has gone noticed, and while many speculated that a match pitting both Sonnen and Vitor would be the next logical step, that doesn’t appear so likely now.

“I talked to Lorenzo (Fertitta) this week and will return in November,” Belfort said in his interview with Sherdog.com. “I just asked him to not be (on the November card in Germany). I’m tired of traveling. I would like to return to fighting here in America. According to my conversation with Lorenzo, my opponent will not be Sonnen, but another guy that will be decided soon.”

So, if not Sonnen, and not Anderson, than who? The only middleweight fighter that stands out to me, who isn’t already tied up in a fight, would have to be Chris Leben–or even Yushin Okami.

Nate Marquardt is tied up in his middleweight affair with Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22 in September, Demian Maia is mixing it up against Mario Miranda at UFC 118, Alan Belcher is sidelined with a detached retina that may keep him away from fighting for good, and in my mind, there are no other viable contenders besides Okami and Leben.

Do you disagree? Anybody else in mind for Vitor?

Middleweight contender Alan Belcher reported via Twitter, that a detached retina will prevent him from competing opposite of Demian Maia, a match that “The Talent” had been campaigning for since his victory over former title challenger Patrick Cote.

While the Belcher-Maia match was to serve as the main event of the evening, with the loss of Alan, the UFC scrambled to find a suitable bout to headline the event.

The decision was made, and through the grape vine, Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares were called to duty, and will now fill in, and will now take over headlining duties on September 25.

The date should prove beneficial for both competitors, as they will now have almost a full-month more to be able to prepare for the bout, since both competitors were originally scheduled for the main card of UFC 118, in Boston, Mass.

Demian, on the other hand, will be playing catch up, as he will now fill in at UFC 118, and will now be taking on Mario Miranda.

Miranda, who entered the UFC undefeated, has split his two bouts inside the octagon, debuting initially against budding middleweight Gerald Harris and losing by knockout in the first round, Miranda was able to bounce back at UFC 115 against former UFC middleweight contender David Loiseau, winning via TKO in the second round.

Maia, a heralded Jiu-Jitsu specialist and Abu Dhabi veteran, is probably most remembered for his most recent performance at UFC 112 against Anderson Silva, challenging for the middleweight title.

The bout saw Silva taunt, and berate the mild-mannered Maia throughout the fight, before Maia would become the aggressor in the later rounds, seemingly striking Silva at all, but ultimately lost by unanimous decision.

So, is Marquardt vs Palhares a suitable fight to covet main event honors for the Fight Night–which also serves as a lead into the 12th season of “The Ultimate Fighter–and does Maia have ample time to change his game plan, and prepare for a well versed opponent like Miranda (who has split training camps with AMC Pankration and The famed Black House team in California, training alongside the likes of the aforementioned Anderson Silva, Nogueria brothers, and Lyoto Machida)?

But, as Drwal tapped feverishly and Palhares cranked the technique, Palhares only awaited referee Kevin Mulhall’s official stoppage of the fight before releasing the heel hook.

Drwal had slipped on the mat mid-kick before Palhares pounced and applied the submission lock to Drwal’s left leg just seconds into round one.

Drwal was also suspended pending X-rays of his knee and ankle.

Fighters.com disagrees with the NJSACB’s disciplinary suspension.  Having watched thousands of fights, I know it’s not uncommon for a fighter to release a submission or prematurely end a punching barrage before the referee ends the fight.  Often this gives the opponent on the receiving end a second wind.  That’s why fighters are trained to fight until the referee stops you.

Drwal was obviously and vigorously submitting to Palhares, even screeching in pain.  Palhares knew Drwal was tapping.  But, Palhares correctly awaited Mulhall’s official stoppage before releasing the hold.

The image of Drwal’s knee twisting gruesomely as he pleaded with Palhares to release the lock is unfortunate for mixed martial arts as the sport legitimizes itself.  But, if anyone is to blame for that image lasting too long, it’s referee Kevin Mulhall.  The five or six seconds Palhares held the heel hook as Drwal tapped was the same five or six seconds Mulhall watched Drwal tap before stopping the fight.  Palhares’s job in the Octagon is to fight.  Mulhall’s job is to stop fights.  So, if any disciplinary action is deserved on this occasion, it should be due to Mulhall’s late stoppage.

Both UFC title contenders will compete in the -87.9kg division, along with “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (11-3). Sengoku judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9) and DREAM welterweight Andre Galvao (3-0).

UFC welterweight champ “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2) will compete in the -76.9kg division, along with the UFC’s “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3), Japanese free agent “K-Taro” Keita Nakamura (15-4-2), and Brazilian free agent “Uirapuru” Marcelo Azevedo (3-5).

In the -98.9kg division, Strikeforce light heavyweight “Babalu” Renato Sobral (32-9), free agent “Brazilian Tiger” Ricardo Arona (13-5), The Ultimate Fighter 8 contestant “Pezao” Vinicius Magalhães (3-5), former UFC and PRIDE fighter “Boogey Man” Dean Lister (11-6), The Pit’s “Brazilian Pit Bull” Glover Teixeira (7-2), Brazilian heavyweight free agent “Pe De Pano” Marcio Cruz (6-2), and Aussie light heavyweight “Hippo” Anthony Perosh (6-4).

Strikeforce heavyweight contender “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) and American free agent “Snowman” Jeff Monson (27-8) highlight the +99kg division. Former IFL heavyweight title challenger Antoine Jaoude (8-3) and M-1 Global heavyweight Rogent Lloret (6-1) will also compete in the highest weight divsion.

In the lowest weight division, -65.9kg, WEC featherweight contender “Big Frog” Jeff Curran (31-12-1) and WEC bantamweight contender Rani Yahya (14-3) will compete with SHOOTO vets “Iron” Hiroshi Nakamura (4-3-4) and “Finisher” Baret Yoshida (5-6-1).

Every division will also include grapplers who don’t compete in MMA.

Every other year, the ADCC creates the most interesting moments and exciting matchups in submission grappling. Always a highlight, the absolute division pits grapplers of all weight classes against each other to crown an absolute champ. Past absolute division matchups include DREAM welterweight “Mach” Hayato Sakurai (35-10) versus former UFC heavyweight champion “Suave” Ricco Rodriguez (32-8-3) and DREAM lightweight “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) versus Sengoku heavyweight Roger Gracie (2-0).

Emirati Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his BJJ instructor Nelson Monteiro created the event that has become the gold standard in submission grappling in 1998 and in 2003 the tournament began touring to locations outside the UAE.

The grapplers will compete at Pavello Olimpic de Badalona in Barcelona beginning at 11:00 AM on 26 September. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.

Palhares lost his last fight via unanimous decision to Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked light heavyweight “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (23-7) at UFC 88 in September.

Horn is also coming off a loss, most recently to “Boogeyman” Dean Lister (11-5) via first-round guillotine choke at the TUF 7 Finale in June.

Liddell lay unconcious on the canvas for several minutes after the punch.

Evans jitter-bugged around a stalking Liddell the entire fight.  Liddell never really got a beat on him, but landed a straight right in the first round.  Evans back-pedalled and taunted Liddell with a dance.

In the second round, Liddell lunged for an uppercut and took Evans’s counter right hook square on the jaw to end the fight at 1:51.

Franklin Finishes Friend

“Ace” Rich Franklin (24-3) TKO’d his friend and former training partner “Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-2) at 39 seconds of round three with a left kick to Hamill’s floating rib in Franklin’s return to 205.

Franklin had landed the same kick consistently through the first two rounds.  In the third, the kick dropped Hamill and Franklin landed two punches before referee Mario Yamasaki waved the fight off.

Franklin took a deep cut over his right eye from a Hamill uppercut in the first round.  In the second round, Yamasaki asked a referee to take a look at the cut.

“I’m walking around with a black eye already; so, it wasn’t too bad,” Franklin said of the cut after the fight.

The fight continued; and, Hamill chose to stand with “Ace” after several takedown attempts were resisted.

Of his new weight class, Franklin said, “Cutting weight this week was awesome; but, pushing around another 20 pounds wasn’t.”

Marquardt Kayos Kampmann

Middleweight Nathan Marquardt (27-8-2) quickly KO’d kickboxer “Hitman” Martin Kampmann (13-2) at 1:22 of round one Saturday night in Atlanta.

After the fight, Marquardt said, “I knew I was better and, though he was a kickboxer, I knew I could take him standing.”

Marquardt connected early with a right head kick that plopped Kampmann on his ass.  Kampmann bounced back up, but ate Marquardt’s straights while backpedaling to cage.  At the fence, Marquardt dug an uppercut into Kampmann’s chin.  Kampmann fell and the fight was stopped.

Pellegrino Brutalizes Tavares

Before Saturday night, only two fighters had ever defeated lightweight Brazilian Thiago Tavares (13-3).  “Batman” Kurt Pellegrino (12-4) beat him twice in Atlanta.

Officially, the judges scored the unanimous decision 29-27 twice and 29-8, all for Pellegrino.

Pellegrino won a 10-8 first round on two score cards, dropping Tavares with a flush right hook and crackling uppercut.  On the mat, Pellegrino’s elbows opened up cuts on each of Tavares’s temples and under his righ eyelid.

In the second round, the only round Tavares won (paritally due to an inadvertant eye poke by Tavares), Pellegrino squeezed an armbar from his back; and, Tavares appeared to tap; but, referee Yves Lavigne missed the call.

After the fight, Pellegrino said, “I know it was super duper tight.  Yeah, he tapped.  All I remember him saying was ‘you couldn’t get me.’”

Pellegrino eeked out a close third between two exhausted fighters to put away the unanimous decision.

Barbarian Chops Down Patt

After peppering Octagon rookie Michael Patt (12-3) with right hooks, “Barbarian” Tim Boetsch (8-2) crashed a straight right through Patt’s guard.

Patt took a seat on the mat with a split lip and a faint idea where he was.  Boetsch pounded the fight closed at 2:03.

Boetsch said after the fight, “I’m pumped.  I trained real hard to get an explosive finish like this.”

Kim Barely Beats Brown

“Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) remained undefeated versus Matt Brown (7-7)…barely.

Kim won a split decision 29-28 twice and 28-29 for Brown.  Fighters.com scored it 29-28 for Kim; but, UFC commentator Joe Rogan told the disappointed crowd he thought Brown had won.

Kim rode Brown’s back most of round one, nearly finishing Brown in a rear naked choke while Brown stood.

Apparently, that was the controversial round as two judges and Fighters.com scored it 10-9 for Kim while Cecil Peoples scored round one 10-9 for Brown.

Kim was sluggish in round two.  Brown took advantage, capturing Kim in his Thai clinch and hammering knees to the Korean’s midsection.

In round three, Brown walked right through a square Kim left hook; but, Kim followed up with a toss into Brown’s full guard.  Kim opened up a deep cut under Brown’s left cheekbone with a slick elbow.

Kim lamented, “I hate to go to a decision.  Next time I’m going to be different.”

Brown made clear after the fight, “I don’t fight for the judges.  I fight for the fans and to finish.”

MacDonald Avenges Maia Loss

Middleweight “Athlete” Jason MacDonald (21-10) willed a second-round submission ”W” over “Punisher” Jason Lambert (23-9) after nearly being forced to tap in a guilltoine himself at the end of round one.

MacDonald said after the fight, “[The guillotine] was pretty tight; but, my head was toward the screen and I knew I could hold my breath for six seconds.”

MacDonald held on and dumped Lambert on his ass to open the second round, then passed to mount.  Lambert rolled right into J-Mac’s rear naked choke at 1:20.

“I knew he was getting tired from making the cut to 185 pounds,” MacDonald said, ”so I knew if I could take it into the later rounds I would get him.”

Chonan Earns Split Decision

Two of the three cageside judges prevented welterweight “Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-8) from serving “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-8) a cold dish of revenge for 2005 TKO loss.

Chonan won a split decision by 29-28 twice and 28-29 once in favor of Carneiro.  Fighters.com scored the fight for Carneiro 29-28.

Carneiro dominated round one, flopping “Piranha” on his back and chiseling a cut over Chonan’s right eye with elbows.  Earlier in the round, Carneiro had nearly scored an omoplata transitioned from a triangle; but, Chonan rolled free.

Chonan won the second round by stuffing Carneiro’s shot and out wrestling him while landing infrequent punches.  The crowd pleaded with referee Herb Dean to stand the fighters; but, Dean let them tussle for position.

Chonan stuffed Carneiro’s shot again in the third, but rolled into Carneiro’s guard.  Carneiro landed a few shots before Chonan regained his feet.  Chonan gained top position before the round ended, but did little damage.

Hendo’ Earns First UFC “W” Since 1998

“It’s been awhile,” said “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (23-7) after squeaking a unanimous decision “W” over “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (8-2) passed the judges by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28.

A timid Hendo’ wanted no part of Palhares’s Brazilian jiu-jiu, consistently waving off the ground game throughout the three rounds.

Instead, “Hollywood” stalked with his devastating right hand cocked.

“Normally I’m more aggressive,” he said, “so, I apologize about that.

Palhares shot often, almost all of them stuffed by Henderson.  Palhares also peppered Hendo’ with an impressive array of kicks and nearly locked in two knee bars.

Hendo’ only landed his overhand right cleanly with ten seconds left in the fight, dropping Palhares.  Hendo’s pounced with two more overhands to steal the round.

• a previously reported light heavyweight bout between Fighters.com’s second-ranked middleweight “Ace” Rich Franklin (23-3) and “Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-1);

• a rumoured welterweight bout between tenth-ranked “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2) and “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5);

• a middleweight bout between “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (22-7) and “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (8-1).

Yoshida, who won his last nine fights, made his UFC debut in May with a 56-second submission over “War Machine” Jon Koppenhaver (5-2).

Parisyan will look to come back from a second-round TKO loss to third-ranked “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (15-3) at Fight Night 13 in April.

Henderson, a former PRIDE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion, was submitted via second-round rear naked choke by UFC and Fighters.com’s Middleweight Champion “Spider” Anderson Silva (22-4) in March.

Palhares is looking for his seventh consecutive win. In May he submitted Ivan Salaverry (13-7) via armbar in round one.

Veteran referee Mario Yamasaki determined that Sherk was unable to continue after a Penn flurry at the cage that left Sherk on the mat at the end of the third round.

The three five-minute rounds were fought entirely standing up, resembling a boxing match.

Penn worked a slicker boxing style set-up with a long, snapping jab.  Sherk threw left and right hooks in a stiff, technical style.

Penn established his jab in the first round as Sherk pressured.

Sherk clinched to muffle “The Prodigy’s” reach advantage; but, Penn landed an uppercut to break the clinch.

Sherk attempted to counter with his own jab, but threw it short as Penn followed down the pipe with his left.  Sherk clinched again; but, Penn threw him off.

Sherk began round two with a cut under his right eye from Penn’s relentless jabbing.  He shrugged his shoulders before the bell, disappointed with his first-round performance.

But, the Minnesotan took the fight to Penn in the second round.  Penn clinched inside Sherk’s left/right hook combo and hammered knees to “The Muscle Shark’s” body.

Again, Penn clinched; but, Sherk overwhelmed him with a flurry.  Penn pushed out of the clinch.

Unable to solve Penn’s boxing riddle, Sherk began to test his leg kick; but, Penn answered with a left hook.

Penn had all the answers Saturday night.

Sherk began round three with another cut under his left eye.  Before the bell rang, he sized himself up on the above-Octagon screen.

Increasingly desperate to overcome Penn’s reach advantage, Sherk began lunging with his punches.

Penn timed an uppercut as Sherk lunged into a punch, sending Sherk backpedaling to the cage.  Penn followed him with a flying knee that landed square on Sherk’s jaw.  Penn mounted and pounded Sherk to the bell.

Penn describe the flurry, “He got caught.  I hit him and I knew the fight was done when he put his hands up and looked at me like, ‘Yeah, you got me.  It’s over.’”

The referee Yamasaki stopped the action at the bell, but determined Sherk was no longer fit to fight another round after Sherk  remained on his knees and awarded Penn the TKO.

When asked if the stoppage was justified, Sherk replied, “I’m not real sure.  I didn’t even hear the bell ring.”

“I was surprised [Sherk wanted to box],” Penn admitted.  “I thought he was going to try to use his combinations to setup his takedowns. ”

After the fight, Penn asked the 15,000-person crowd, “You want GSP?  You want B.J. Penn to fight GSP?”  He was referring to top-ranked welterweight “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (16-2), who won a split decision over Penn in 2006.

UFC President Dana White told reporters that Penn has at least one more fight before “clearing out the lightweight division” and earning a rematch with the 170-pound champion St. Pierre.

White was referring to the winner of the August match-up between seventh-ranked “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (9-3) and “El Matador” Roger Huerta (20-1-1).

Penn admitted it’d be hard for him to take a fight against the winner of Florian versus Huerta seriously after dominating Sherk, considered the second-ranked lightweight in the UFC behind Penn.

The “Axe Murderer” Is Back

Tenth-ranked light heavyweight “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (32-81) is back!  Back to winning!  Back to demolishing with a 36-second TKO over fourth-ranked “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (13-4-1).

Shortly into the first round, Jardine lunged into a flurry that Silva countered with a right hook that collapsed the “Dean of Mean”, then followed with a left and right hook as Jardine fell.

Silva pounced and pounded Jardine until he went stiff and the referee waved off the carnage.

Jardine lay prone several minutes after the stoppage as Silva became emotional at the mic.

Machida Sends Ortiz Packing

UFC President Dana White got the last laugh on ninth-ranked light heavyweight “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1).

He matched him versus third-ranked “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (13-0), who routinely sucks the air out of the world’s most exciting sport.

Machida won a paced UD over Ortiz by 30-27 on all three judges score cards.

Machida may have sucked the air out of Ortiz’s big-dollar post-UFC plans by forcing another boring fight on an exciting fighter.

Ortiz stalked the elusive “Dragon” for a takedown throughout the fight; and, Machida, to his credit, avoided all but one of “Bad Boy’s” shots.

At the end of round one, Machida even slammed Ortiz into side control and chiseled open a gash on the bridge of Ortiz’s nose with elbows.

After several attempts to engage Machida in the second round, frustrated Ortiz dropped his hands and waved Machida on.

Machida responded with a 1-2 combo; and, Ortiz nodded and countered with a body kick and punch before the bell halted the action.

In round three, Ortiz took a Machida flying knee to the body; and, Machida followed Ortiz to the mat.  Ortiz recovered and smothered Machida’s G’n'P, then locked on a triangle choke.

The capacity crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena took their feet; but, it was too late; Machida was too slick rolling over and too slippery yanking free as Ortiz transitioned into an armbar.

Fighters.com gave the decision to Machida by the score 29-28.

Ortiz left open the possibility of returning to the UFC in his post-fight comments; but, it was clear in the post-fight press conference that he was unwanted.  Ortiz crashed the press conference and refused to leave, prodded on by his girlfriend, Jenna Jameson, shouting, “You don’t have to go anywhere, baby!”

Soukoudjou: “Just one thing: Shogun.”

Seventh-ranked light heavyweight ”African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-2) got back to what brought him to the big show Saturday night at UFC 84 in Las Vegas when a straight right turned the lights out on “Kaz” Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-8) in the first round.

Sokou’ landed snapping leg kicks throughout the round, but was frustrated by Nakamura’s in-and-out flurries and elusive defense.  Finally, after landing a body kick he had tested out earlier in the round, Sokou’ followed with a straight right that dropped Kaz’.

The bell rang before it was clear how much damage the big punch had done; but, when Nakamura first tried to stumble from the Octagon thinking the fight had been stopped, then collapsed on his stool, the fight was stopped after the first round.

After the fight, Sokoudjou announced, “Just one thing: Shogun.”

Yoshida Silences War Machine

Tenth-ranked welterweight ”Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2) put “War Machine” Jon Koppenhaver (5-2) to sleep in an anaconda choke 56 seconds into round one.

“It was just the way I expected,” Yoshida said after his victorious UFC debut.

Koppenhaver fired first with a leg kick, then clinched with the Japanese judoka.

Bad move!

“Zenko” flipped Koppenhaver into side mount and wrapped up the anaconda choke toot sweet.  Referee Herb Dean tugged on Koppenhaver’s arm and determined he was unconscious, ending the fight.

Yoshida said, “The anaconda choke was right there for me.”

Silva Welcomes Mendes

Rising light heavyweight Thiago Silva (13-0) welcomed “Samuray” Antonio Mendes (14-3) to the UFC.  Well…used him as a welcoming mat in a first-round TKO “W”.

Mendes surprised Silva early with a left roundhouse kick to the head, dropping Silva.  Mendes declined the ground game.  Again, Mendes caught a Silva body kick and dumped him to the mat, but declined to follow for long.

When it was Silva’s turn with a nice trip takedown at the cage, it was clear why Mendes wanted to stay on his feet.

Silva easily passed to mount and pounded a flailing Mendes to a TKO stoppage.

Reljice Debuts Victoriously

Croatian light heavyweight Goran Reljic (8-0) stopped Brazilian Wilson Gouveia (10-5) at 3:15 of round two with a well-timed overhand left to Gouveia’s jaw as Gouveia kicked at Reljic’s leg.

Gouveia dropped; and, Reljic followed, pounding Gouveia for another twenty seconds before referee Herb Dean woke up and realized he should stop the fight before Gouveia was brain damaged.

Palhares Slick Victory

Brazilian Top Team’s “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (8-1) made a slick conversion from a rear naked choke he was working on Ivan Salaverry (12-7) to tap Salaverry in an armbar at 2:36 of round one.  The fight was all Palhares and all BJJ, earning the UFC’s $75,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus.

Kim Mandhandles Tan

Debuting UFC welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (10-1-1) outclassed Liverpudlian Jason Tan (5-3) in every aspect to win a third-round TKO.

Tan shot for a double-leg takedown to begin the first round; but, Kim proved nimble, avoiding the mat while elbowing a gash into Tan’s skull.  Kim eventually relented to the mat, but on his terms, tossing Tan and mounting.

Tan took a pounding from Kim’s punches and elbows, but survived for a second round.

Tan switched his strategy in round two, throwing high and low kicks to begin the round; but, Kim avoided contact.

Tan again shot for a takedown; and, again Kim hip tossed Tan to the mat, mounted, and pounded him to the bell.

Tan worked rubber guard, attempting an omoplata; but, Kim made him pay for every submission attempt by avoiding and following up with a punch.

Kim came out to the third-round bell to take Tan out.  Kim threw two big, off-target hooks before clinching and throwing Tan to the mat to pound him out with elbows for the TKO.

Carwin Clobbers Wellisch

Also debuting UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin (9-0) clobbered “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (8-4) with a right hook 44 seconds into round one.

A wrestler, Carwin established his jab from the opening bell.  Wellisch timed Carwin and grazed him with a left hook 25 seconds into the round.  Carwin popped another jab in Wellisch’s face, which Wellisch followed into a head-on collision with Carwin’s fight-ending right hook, knocking Wellisch’s mouthpiece to the mat.

Clementi Continues Streak

“No Love” Rich Clementi (32-12-1) continued his rebound with a unanimous decision over Liverpudlian Terry Etim (10-2) by scores of 29-28 on all three judges cards.

Clementi survived an all-Etim first round.

“His lankiness was hard, hard, hard to deal with,” Clementi admitted after the fight.

Clementi got tagged with low and high kicks as he closed range for the takedown.  Midway through the round, Clementi finally succeeded in taking the fight to the mat, but Etim smothered his offense, causing the referee to stand the fighters.  Six-foot-one Etim continued to exploit his reach advantage.

The second and third rounds were different entirely.  Clementi’s relentless pressure, which caused him to take some shots in the first round, began to wear on Etim.  Clementi began scoring his takedowns, mostly single-leg into half-mount.

Etim continued to smother Clementi on the mat; but, Clementi put together a pitty-pat G’n'P that scored on the judges cards and eventually opened up a gash under Etim’s right eye.

In the third round, Clementi held Etim’s left arm beneath Etim and landed hammer fists.

The accumulation of strikes on the mat won Clementi his sixth straight.

Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked lightweight “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (9-3), former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner (32-7), and “Hammer” Mark Coleman (15-8) signed autographs and third-ranked lightweight “JZ” Gesias Calvancanti (14-2-1) was in the crowd with his smokin’ hot girlfriend.

First up to the scale was debuting UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin (8-0) weighing in at 253 pounds. Carwin fights “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (9-3), who weighed 230 pounds.

Wellisch said, “He’s not as big as he looked on video.”

Next to the scale was DEEP vet, UFC debuting Dong Hyun Kim (9-1-1) weighing 171 pounds and his opponent, 170-pound Liverpudlian Jason Tan (5-2).

Another UFC first-timer, tenth-ranked welterweight “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2) weighed 170 pounds, the same as his opponent, “War Machine” Jon Koppenhaver (5-1).

Antoher Liverpudlian pugilist Terry Etim (10-1) weighed 155 pounds to match his UFC 84 opponent, “No Love” Rich Clementi (31-12-1).

“Kaz” Kazurhiro Nakamura (11-7) weighed a pound over light heavyweight at 206 pounds (“Without the Easter basket,” UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan commented). His UFC 84 opponent, seventh-ranked “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-2), weighed in a pound under at 204 pounds.

Brazilian Top Team’s “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (7-1) looked large at 185 pounds, which matched his Speedo-clad foe Ivan Salaverry (12-6).

UFC debuting “Samuray” Antonio Mendes (14-2) weighed two pounds under the light heavyweight limit at 203 pounds. His opponent, Thiago Silva (12-0), met the 205-pound limit. Mendes looked about as big around as one of Silva’s thighs.

Ninth-ranked “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) wore a shirt that read “Dana White Is My Bitch” and weighed 205 pounds. His opponent, third-ranked “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (12-0), shook his hand at the face-off, after matching his weight.

UFC debuting Goran Reljic (7-0) nudged his opponent Wilson Gouveia (10-4) at the face-off; but, American Top Team’s Gouveia didn’t flinch. They both weighed 205 pounds.

Tenth-ranked “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) and fourth-ranked “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (13-3-1) both weighed 205 pounds.

Fifth-ranked “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (32-2-1) and fourth-ranked “Prodigy” B.J. Penn (12-4-1) both weighed 155 pounds for the UFC 84 main event title fight.

These girls didn’t weigh in; and, I didn’t think it polite to ask.

Loose lips had already divulged details for both events.

At the MGM Grand Garden Arena 24 May, “The Prodigy” BJ Penn will defend his UFC Lightweight Championship against the improper advances of former 155-pound champ Sean Sherk, returning from a banned substances suspension.

My Portuguese is a little rusty, but Wanderlei Silva has also confirmed via his blog that he’s signed to fight Keith Jardine on the Vegas strip.

Other rumored bouts include:

Ryoto Machida v Tito Ortiz
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou v Kazuhiro Nakamura
Rashad Evans v Thiago Silva
Wilson Gouveia v Goran Reljic
Rousimar Palhares v Ivan Salaverry
Dong-hyun Kim v Jason Tan
Terry Etim v Jeremy Stephens
Shane Carwin v Christian Wellisch

At 02 Arena in London 7 June, light heavyweights Chuck Liddell and  Mauricio Rua will headline in a fight that not too long ago would’ve been considered the king-maker at 205.

Brandon Vera has also confirmed he’ll return versus Fabricio Werdum in London.

Brock Lesnar is also rumored to return on this fight card.