Belfort vs Bisping

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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)

Affliction

Just as I hated to see Randy and Chuck hit the mat, it left me speechless to see Arlovski as a fallen giant. Emelianenko kept his WAMMA heavyweight championship belt and Arlovski still took home a stack of cash.

How much did Arlovski get paid to eat fist? Here are some facts from Fox Sports on MSN:

Andrei Arlovski pocketed $1.5 million to lead official paydays for Saturday's Affliction: Day of Reckoning, courtesy of figures released by the California State Athletic Commission.

However, these salaries do not account for undisclosed bonuses, hence Fedor Emelianenko's relatively small financial compensation.

Emelianenko's official payday does not include a win bonus, while Arlovski would have pocketed an extra $250,000 had he claimed the WAMMA heavyweight title.

The second highest earner was Josh Barnett, who took home $500,000 with no bonus for his third-round victory over Gilbert Yvel. Meanwhile, Yvel made $30,000 in his losing effort.

The total disclosed fighter payroll was $3.31 million.

Here are the full salary figures provided by the athletic commission:

Main Card:

• Fedor Emelianenko $300,000 (no win bonus) def. Andre Arlovski $1,500,000 (win bonus would have been $250,000)
• Josh Barnett $500,000 (no win bonus) def. Gilbert Yvel $30,000 (win bonus would have been $9,300)
• Vitor Belfort $200,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus) def. Matt Lindland $225,000 (win bonus would have been $75,000)
• Renato "Babalu" Sobral $90,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou $50,000 (win bonus would have been $50,000)
• Paul Buentello $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Kiril Sidelnikov $10,000 (win bonus would have been $25,000)
• Dan Lauzon $12,000 (no win bonus) def. Bobby Green $4,000 (win bonus would have been $4,000)

HDNet Undercard:

• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira $150,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Vladimir Matyushenko $50,000 (win bonus would have been $30,000)
• L.C. Davis $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) def. Bao Quach $7,000 (win bonus would have been $6,000)
• Albert Rios $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Antonio Duarte $3,000 (win bonus would have been $2,000)
• Brett Cooper $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Patrick Speight $2,000 (win bonus would have been $3,000)

Swing Bout:

• Jay Hieron $45,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Jason High $10,000 (win bonus would have been $5,000)

Besides the main event, a few of my favorite fights were:

"Babalu" vs Sokoudjou - The MMA community has been praising Sokoudjou for being "the next big thing" in mixed martial arts. However, this fight took Babalu to 32-7, which is quite impressive, and left Sokoudjou at 5-4. Will we see him fight again?

Lindland vs Belfort - I was on a "B" streak Saturday night; I rooted for Babalu, Belfort, and Barnett. Belfort, as usual, did not disappoint! After only 37 seconds in the ring, Belfort landed an overhand left hook that left Lindland's leg twitching. What an awesome knockout!

Yvel vs Barnett - Barnett took Yvel in the third round by tapout. Barnett's punch count saw that he landed 121 of 183 in those three rounds.


If you missed Lindland/Belfort or Arlovski/Emelianenko, you have got to check out MMATKO.com for the video. MMAPain also has it here.

Finally, if all of that made you miss Pulver vs Faber on Sunday, check out that fight video here.

What a crazy weekend!