Belfort vs Bisping

Also follow me on Twitter: @agirlymma

I'm ready for the five round bout between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort but I truly hope it doesn't go the distance. I'd love to see Belfort beat Bisping with no decision. There's a co-main event, featuring middleweights C.B. Dollaway taking on Daniel Sarafian. I'm also looking forward to seeing Gonzaga tonight! Unfortunately, I did not watch the first two fights- my results start with Nobre/Alcantara.

This post will be updated with results as they happen; Eastern Time. 

 Updates: 

• Francisco Trinaldo defeats C.J. Keith via Submission in Round 2 (via Arm-Triangle Choke) 
• Ildemar Alcantara defeats Wagner Prado via Submission in Round 2 (via Kneebar)
• Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre: 6:40 PM: Fighters just entering ring. 6:48: Nobre is down, claiming hits to the back of the head. 6:50 Fight has been called; Nobre is being helped to the back. Fight determined NO CONTEST. I personally think that was a crybaby move by Nobre. (Fight called no contest.)
•  Edson Barboza vs. Lucas Martins: 7:07 PM: Barboza has Martins down.  7:08 PM Barboza wins in the first round due to Martin tapping out. (Barboza defeats Martin, submission due to strikes)
•  Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz: 7:23 Bruce Buffer announcing the fighters. 7:32: 3 minutes left in the second round. 7:38: Diego Nunes gets a second wind after both fighters have looked pretty tired for the last few minutes. Nunes throws a few hard strikes; then Lentz goes for a takedown. 7:41: 10 seconds left and looking like a decision. 7:45: UNANIMOUS decision -- Nick Lentz. (Lentz defeats Nunes, unanimous decision)
•  Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig: 8:06 PM: 3:25 left in the 2nd round. 8:14: Markes taking blows on the ground from Craig. 2:50 left in the 3rd round. 8:17 PM: Went to decision. :/ 8:19 PM: Ronny Markes wins via unanimous decision. (Markes defeats Craig via unanimous decision)
•  Godofredo Castro vs. Milto Vieira: 8:31 PM: 2:15 left in the first round. As it has been all night, not a lot of stand up action so far. Mainly grappling and fighting for control. 8:32: Yamasaki pauses the fight due to groin strike. 8:34: Takedown by Vieira. 8:36: Beginning of Round 2. 8:44: 2:30 left in the 3rd round. The fight is picking up! Interesting BJJ and active grappling has made this a little more exciting fight, even though I'd love to see less decisions and more good finishes. 1:40 left in the 3rd round. 8:48: Fight has gone to decision. 8:49: Winner is Castro by split decision. (Castro defeats Vieira by split decision)

MAIN CARD COMING UP!! 8:54 PM EST!

•  Thiago Tavares vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
  9:11: Beginning now. 9:14: Khabib Nurmagomedov won via knockout in the first round after a ton of brutal strikes!! What in the world is Dan M doing, catching butterflies?! (Nurmagomedov defeats Tavares via knockout)

•  Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell 
9:34: 35 minutes left in 1st round. 9:37: Gonzaga wins via submission in the second round (Gonzaga defeats Rothwell via submission in the 2nd round)


•  C.B. Dollaway vs. Daniel Sarafian 
9:53: Fight begins now. Yamasaki as ref. 9:56: Dollaway fighting hard for a takedown but Sarafians showing good defense. 10:03: 1:30 left in the 2nd round. 10:05 Dollaway trying to finish at the end of the round...but on to number 3. 10:08: 3 min left in the 3rd, Dollaway has him tired and down. 10:10: Half guard sweep by Sarafian. 10:12: Going to decision. 10:15: Dollaway wins. (Dollaway defeats Sarafian via split decision)


•  Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping
10:36: The fight begins! Dan M as ref again-- hope he keeps his eye on the fight.10:45 Belfort wins!!!! (Belfort wins via TKO)

UFC Live on Versus: Vera vs Jones

There was almost a knockout on the way to the ring last night for Jones -- did you catch it?  I did, and was hysterical.  It made my day to wake up and find out MMATKO.com saw it too:

This turned out to be a pretty good fight, even though I would have loved to see Vera vs Nogueira at 109.  Jones came in ready and Vera kept putting him off to start off with.  They both looked pretty comfortable.  Vera got caught on his back and hit Jones with a kick to the face.  Herb Dean called it, took a point from Vera, and then repositioned the guys where they'd left off, after Jones indicated he wanted to keep fighting.  If it would have ended there, I would have definitely been let down.  Because shortly after that, Jones attacked Vera with his left elbow and got Vera down again.  He went in for the kill with punches, and Dean pulled him off at 3:19 of the first round.  Whew!

I also enjoyed the dos Santos/Gonzaga fight.  Junior definitely earned that win. It was a slow start, but dos Santos took Gonzaga with a left hook counter that sent him to the ground.  He took Gonzaga out with punches, just 3:53 into the first round. Rosenthal was the ref that called it. 

Preliminary Card

• Light Heavyweight bout: Brilz defeated Schafer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Welterweight bout:  Pierce defeated Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Heavyweight bout:  Schaub defeated Gormley via TKO (punches) at 0:47 of round 1.

• Welterweight bout: Howard defeated Roberts via KO (punch) at 2:01 of round 1. This bout aired on the live Versus broadcast.

• Lightweight bout: Elkins defeated Ludwig via TKO (ankle injury) at 0:44 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Matyushenko defeated Marshall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27).

• Lightweight bout: Guida defeated Gugerty via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:40 of round 2. Guida won Submission of the Night.

Main Card

• Middleweight bout: Sakara defeated Irvin via TKO (punch) at 3:01 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout: Kongo defeated Buentello via submission (strikes) at 1:16 of round 3.

• Heavyweight bout: dos Santos defeated Gonzaga via KO (punches) at 3:53 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout: Jones defeated Vera via TKO (elbow) at 3:19 of round 1.

John Howard,  Jon Jones, and Junior Dos Santos all won Knockout of the Night.