UFC Fight Night Recap

* Amir Sadollah v. Brad Blackburn (UFC Welterweight Division)

Blackburn: "To me you have to beat a good striker to be a good striker, so we'll see how he does." Sadollah: "Careful what you wish for!" We see highlights of his three round pounding of NYBA Phil Baroni.

Sadollah says this fight will be a big step up for him. Blackburn is noted to be a nine year veteran of MMA. Blackburn says this is the first time he's guaranteed his fight will be televised and he's going to make the most of it. Commercial!

Tale of the tape - 29 to 32, 5'11" to 5'10", 170 each and 75" to 73" reach from Sadollah to Blackburn. Bruce Buffer lets us know WE ARE LIIIIIVE and he's INTRODUCING FIRST, FIGHTING!! out of the blue corner, the 15-9-1 with 1 NC fighter from Olympia, Washington 'Bad' Brad Blackburn. From the red corner, Sadollah is 3-1, 5'11", 170 pounds and fighting out of Richmond, Virginia. The crowd boos Blackburn and cheers Sadollah like they are pure pro wrestling heel and babyface. Mario Yamasaki is our ref in charge. Here we go!

Sadollah comes out firing kicks and Blackburn is hanging back a bit. Rogan informs us Blackburn got shoulder surgery before this fight. Sadollah is all over him with punches and kicks and the two clinch up at the 50 second mark. Goldberg reminds us Blackburn is unbeaten in the Octagon. Sadollah lands an overhand right but not very hard and the two clinch up again.

Rogan talks about Sadollah's kickbox training. Blackburn is covering up well and finding his range here and there. Sadollah keeps him away with the front kick. Sadollah's corner screams at him to let the hands go.. or maybe that's Blackburn's. Sadollah closes the distance again with 2:15 left in the round and Blackburn backs him off with a punch to the gut. Crowd starts loudly chanting LET'S GO AMIR. Blackburn pushes him up against the fence with 75 seconds left.

You can see a little bit of bruising on Sadollah's face from Blackburn's jabs. Sadollah rocks him with a left with 50 seconds to go and gets a takedown into side control! Blackburn forces him back into half guard so Sadollah stands up and backs off. Blackburn eats a hard front kick with ten seconds left and the two clinch until the horn. 10-9 Sadollah.

We're reminded that www.twitter.com/danawhite will be active all night long as we come back for the start of R2. Blackburn is throwing more leg kicks and body kicks. I'm pretty sure that's Blackburn's corner doing all the yelling to keep his hands up and let his hands go now. Blackburn clinches Sadollah up against the cage and lands a knee to the body, then momentarily drops levels but thinks better of it. The two break apart and start trading shots.

Blackburn is jabbing effectively. Blackburn clinches and pushes Sadollah to the fence again. "C'mon, body shots Brad!" Sadollah fires off knees even in clinch. Yamasaki stops them for a restart at center with 2:48 left. Sadollah falls down on a leg kick but Blackburn can't get on him quick enough to capitalize. Blackburn lands a really nice hand that snaps Sadollah's head back a bit, then he shoots unsuccessfully for a takedown. 1:35 to go.

Blackburn has a bodylock but can't do anything with it and they break apart. 60 seconds. Blackburn continues to jab effectively. Sadollah misses with a right uppercut but lands a nice left. Blackburn also misses with an uppercut and tries some dirty boxing. 15 seconds. Sadollah gets a nice shot in the last 10 but it's debatable who won that round.

Five minutes left to go in R3 and Rogan informs us there was a real sense of urgency in Blackburn's corner between rounds. Sadollah lands a huge knee that rocks Blackburn and Sadollah takes him down to the ground to land a big elbow! Blackburn tries to hold onto his arms and avoid taking more damage, but Amir senses a possible submission and backs off. Amir gets back in and moves to side control with 3 minutes left. Blackburn pulls him back into guard between the legs but Sadollah lands a big elbow. Rogan says Yamasaki may stand them up soon but Sadollah stands himself up once they get near the cage and lands a couple of big rights.

Sadollah seems to be looking for a darce choke. Sadollah lets it go and again Blackburn is just fighting for survival, trying to hold Sadollah down with his legs. Goldberg says Blackburn's six fight unbeaten streak is in danger. 40 seconds left. Sadollah stands up finishes the last ten seconds with a flurry of shots to the body and head. I say Sadollah takes this on all the scorecards, 29-28 if not 30-27 from 2 out of 3 judges.

We come back from break with another promo for Best of Pride premiering January 15th at 10 PM EST. Here's Bruce Buffer - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION - ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE THIS FIGHT 30-27 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: AMIR SADOLLAH!

Rogan goes over to interview him. "I'm pretty happy. I love you guys! I was so glad I could fight here in Virginia, gotta thank my fighters and my camp." Rogan says Blackburn was his toughest opponent to date. "Again, I don't know what to say. I love this, I love all the people I work with, you always catch me at the wrong time when I never have cool stuff to say."

Rogan wraps up and Goldberg teases that he and Forrest Griffin must have been separated at birth. We see Maynard and Diaz warming up backstage. After commercial Randy Couture is interviewed about fighting Mark Coleman, who calls it "an interesting challenge."

Couture notes that he was supposed to fight Coleman early on but he ended up losing the heavyweight title and going to Japan. "Worst case scenario, he's got a great double leg, he's gonna try to take me down. I've spent the last few years developing my stand-up skills, so I want to stick and move and make it real hard for him to take me down." Rogan says "good luck champ" and shakes his hand.

* Tom Lawlor v. Aaron Simpson (UFC Middleweight Bout)

We take a commercial and come back for the tale of the tape. 26 to 35, 6'0" each, 185 each, 74" to 73" in reach from Lawlor to Simpson. Simpson is 6-0 and fights out of Phoenix, Arizona - he's also known as A-Train! Lawlor is 6-1 with 1 NC, fights out of Orlando, Florida and his nickname is Filthy! Our referee in charge is Kevin Mulhall. Here we go!

Simpson is in the all white trunks, Lawlor's trunks are partially black. Lawlor throws a big uppercut and has Simpson up against the fence, but Simpson lands a bunch of shots when Lawlor tries to get a takedown. It's a scrap early! Lawlor gets him up against the fence landing some big overhand rights and uppercuts as we near 90 seconds. Simpson manages to break free and back away and seems much more wary of engaging with the Filthy Animal.

Simpson tries to close and gets hit with a huge counter right that sends him reeling into the fence. Lawlor is landing overhand rights at will now and a huge uppercut wobbles Simpson so much Lawlor throws him down with ease. Big left against the fence with two minutes left! How Simpson is still on his feet is a miracle. Simpson is openly checking the clock seeing how long he needs to survive until the round ends. 70 seconds left. Simpson lands a body kick. Lawlor just waits for his chance and he eats a leg kick and counters with a hard straight left. 30 seconds. That was a 10-9 for Lawlor on any card, and I could conceive a 10-8 from some. Commercial for Blue Mountain State.

Lawlor comes out bouncing around on R2. Goldberg tells us his corner told him between rounds that R2 was a whole new fight, start over fresh. Simpson tries to shoot in and eats hands. Any time he gets close enough for a jab he eats a big counter right. Simpson manages to push Lawlor to the fence as we reach the 90 second mark, tries to get a single leg, and finishes it off and gets side control at the same time. Lawlor gives up his back and manages to stand up, and he has to twist his way out as Simpson has his back.

He manages to push off and throw an elbow and the two circle. Lawlor lands an overhand right and goes for the takedown but Simpson pops right back up while Goldberg is promoting Entourage and Blue Mountain State. Simpson lands a few nice body shots with 90 seconds left. Lawlor acts like he got poked in the eye but the ref doesn't stop for time. Simpson keeps pushing forward looking for a takedown but Lawlor has a standing guillotine for a moment. Simpson lands some lefts and rights as they break apart and gets a takedown at the end of the round. Simpson may have done just enough to win R2.

Lawlor and Simpson start trading big shots in the first 10 seconds of R3. Both guys are looking pretty tired. Simpson shoots for a takedown but can't finish it. Simpson gets a big visual takedown at 3:50 but Lawlor immediately pops right back up. Lawlor looks for a big double of his own and gets it, and Simpson pops right back up. The two break apart with 3:20 left. Lawlor nearly transitions a takedown into a kimura but Simpson takes the mount and transitions to his back.

Lawlor manages to fend him off and avoid much damage but Simpson is scoring riding time. 90 seconds left. Lawlor looks for a single leg as he almost gets to his feet but Simpson pushes him back down. Simpson twists out of having his ankle trapped and lands on Lawlor's back, but another transition lets Lawlor get back to his feet and the two are clinched against the fence. The two swing away at each other and Lawlor lands a shot that hurts him, he flexes his hands at Simpson like "come get some" but Simpson keeps distance as time expires. We'll go to the judges!

Here's Bruce Buffer. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER 3 ROUNDS OF ACTION WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION - BLATNIK SCORES 29-28 LAWLOR, CROSBY SCORES IT 29-28 SIMPSON, THIRD JUDGE HAS IT 29-28 FOR A SPLIT DECISION TO AARON 'A-TRAIN' SIMPSON. Crowd boos. Rogan: "This guy just fought his heart out.

He got tagged in the first round and came back. He doesn't make the decision, the judges do. How about giving this guy a round of applause!" Simpson says he thought it would turn into a stand-up fight. "If you got kids get them into wrestling practice, the best sport ever!" More boos. They're just not gonna give him any respect. Commercial.

We come back and Joe Rogan is interviewing a bunch of guys from Blue Mountain State. Whatever. Let me summarize - one guy gets bleeped out a lot and the other calls his co-star a blonde douche ten times. Yawn! Back to the fighters. Dunham vows to show everybody he's for real. Escudero says he's going to prove he's a fighter and not just a reality star. We go to commercial.

* Efrain Escudero v. Evan Dunham (UFC Lightweight Bout)

Tale of the tape - 23 to 28, 5'9" to 5'10", 155 each, 71" to 70" reach from Escudero to Dunham. Dunham is 9-0 and fights out of Las Vegas. Escudero is 13-0 and fights out of Tempe. Dan Miragliotta is our ref in charge. Here we go!

Dunham is in the blue trunks, Escudero is in the white. Not much happening in the first 30 seconds as they circle to find each other's range, although Dunham seems to be pushing ahead a little more. Escudero responds with a hard body kick and pushes Dunham into the fence at the 45 second mark. Dunham looks like Sheamus when Escudero is on top of him. Escudero is keeping his chin tucked and his hands up, and looks very crisp when he strikes. Escudero takes his back at the two minute mark and Dunham gets a warning to let go of the fence. Escudero lands a good uppercut twice in a row and a big jumping knee that hurts Dunham and sends him backing up. Escudero pounces and starts landing big rights!

Dunham finally falls down and Escudero is all over him with two minutes left. Dunham recovers and even starts to look for an armbar. Escudero pulls out and transitions to a guillotine and Dan M. looks in close to see if he's going out. 50 seconds left. Dunham survives but Escudero keeps pummeling him as he lets Dunham up, who seems a little wobbly on his feet. Escudero slips on a kick and Dunham winds up on top for the final seconds of R1.

Dunham comes out punching to start R2. I wonder if this is going to be deja vu of the Simpson and Lawlor fight. Dunham lands a few combos and a nice straight left. Escudero seems content to let Dunham get into range, obviously thinking he'll land the big KO shot once Dunham gets close. So far in the first 90 seconds of R2 that's not working - Dunham is getting in and out without taking much damage. Escudero finally lands a nice right as we pass 2 minutes. Every time Escudero loads up a really big shot Dunham seems to duck it.

Dunham tries a single leg and Escudero hops away at first, but Dunham stays on it and gets him down as we move to 2 minutes left in R2. Even Goldberg is comparing this fight to Lawlor and Simpson now. Lawlor lands a few hammerfists but Escudero pushes him off with his feet. Dunham transitions to his back when he moves in and fires lefts at the ribs and head. 30 seconds left. Escudero turtles up to survive as Dunham rains down blows from on top. On to R3!

Dunham goes for a takedown right away and immediately winds up on a guillotine. Rogan says we can't see if the grip is under the chin or not and he's right. Dunham gets out and goes for a body lock that pushes Escudero into the fence at the 1 minute mark, sweeping the leg and moving into side control.

In the back of my head I can hear Joe Martinez from WEC (I miss WEC) yelling SOMEBODY'S OH HAS GOT TO GO! Dunham sinks in an armbar and uses a body lock to secure it, and Escudero tries and tries to survive beyond the point which he probably should have (his arm may have gotten broken) and finally taps at 3:01 left. EVAN DUNHAM WINS BY SUBMISSION IN R3. Escudero can't even get up as we go to commercial break - he's in bad shape.

We get a replay sponsored by Legion as we wait for Bruce Buffer to make it official, showing Escudero defending a triangle and leaving his arm out to get locked up and hyperextended - you can see it being turned backwards. Ouch. He's already left the Octagon and is not there for the official decision. Bruce: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE REF STOPS THE FIGHT AT 1:59 OF R3 FOR THE WINNER BY TAPOUT DUE TO AN ARMBAR - EVAN DUNHAM! Instead of interviewing Dunham they show us the replay again and tease the main event of Gray Maynard v. Nate Diaz before going to commercial.

* Gray Maynard v. Nate Diaz (UFC Lightweight Fight Night Main Event)

Tale of the tape - 30 to 24, 5'8" to 6 foot even, 155 each, 70" to 76" reach from Maynard to Diaz. Bruce Buffer introduces the officials, the judges, and the referee Mario Yamasaki. IT'SSSSS TIIIIIIIME! Diaz is introduced first at 11-4 and fighting out Stockton, California. Maynard is 9-0 with 1 NC and fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Diaz mean mugs as Yamasaki gives instructions. Here we go!

Diaz paws at Maynard with a right for the first 30 seconds. Maynard seems relatively unconcerned - in fact he's leaving his hands down a bit. Maynard already has a cut open under his right eye. One of these guys could end up facing BJ Penn either in Abu Dhabi or somewhere down the line.

The blood is trickling down Maynard's cheek. So far the long reach of Nate Diaz is paying dividends. When Maynard fires a left hook Diaz ducks under it. Both fighters swing and miss as we reach the halfway point. Maynard lets his hands hang low again and Diaz gets an uppercut, but Maynard responds with a big knee. Maynard lands a solid shot with 1:20 left. Both fighters start talking smack.

Diaz throws his hands up, Maynard shrugs his shoulders like AND WHAT? No love lost here. Round ends relatively uneventfully with Diaz throwing a few inside leg kicks. It's probably 10-9 for Diaz but he didn't overwhelm him. In closeup between rounds Diaz' nose looks a little bloody. Couture gives Maynard a pep talk between rounds before we go to a shot of Rashad Evans at ringside.

R2 is underway! The crowd is quiet in anticipation of something big happening. Diaz continues to use his reach to his advantage. Maynard tries to bait him by faking a takedown and then firing shots instead. Nate starts looking for a takedown of his own and gets tagged with a big left, followed by a nice body shot. Diaz responds with a solid right. Two minutes gone. Maynard comes over the top with a left and then lands a knee that sends Diaz down.

Maynard backs away to avoid the upkick or the ground game and lets Diaz up. Maynard hits another shot that sends Diaz reeling backwards. Maynard is now landing the right on the regular. Maynard is showing some head movement that I don't think Diaz expected. Both fighters are talking smack with 50 seconds to go and the crowd is fed up and starting to boo a bit - as in less shit talk more fist smack please. Still if Diaz can't hit Maynard, whose fault is that? I think Maynard may have even won R2.

Maynard looks crisp as R3 starts - he's bouncing around on his feet like a boxer and defending well whenever Diaz tries to land a shot - either ducking or countering. I'm enjoying this fight from a scientific MMA fighting game point of view, but I can definitely see how this isn't the main event the casual fans in Fairfax wanted. They're booing again at the 75 second mark.

Maynard calls Nate Diaz a bitch - Rogan and Goldberg acknowledge it. Crowd is now clearly unsatisfied, but Diaz just can't land shit - Maynard gets out of the way of everything. In fact it's Maynard who lands a crisp right as we pass into two minutes left, and then another right, and then a body shot.

Rogan: "Neither guy has scored anything conclusive." It almost seems to me that Maynard could seal the deal with one takedown, but I'm not sure he wants to risk getting tagged if he goes. Well he does try but Diaz gets back to his feet. Maynard clips him with a left. Diaz tries to shoot and Maynard lands a knee. Round ends with a swing and a miss by Diaz. We go to the judges!

Replay of some of the shots that rocked Diaz as we come back from commercial, while the PA system plays Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling." Buffer - WE GO TO THE CARDS FOR A DECISION, 29-28 FOR DIAZ, 30-27 FOR MAYNARD, AND 29-28 FOR THE WINNER BY SPLIT DECISION: GRAY 'THE BULLY' MAYNARD!

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