MAIN CARD
* 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)
Hello this is Chris Roberts once again here for Inside Fights covering Fight Night 22…1st some results from earlier…
Brian Foster def. Forrest Petz TKO Round 1 (1:07)
Anthony Waldburger def. David Mitchell unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rich Attonito def. Rafael Natal unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Dave Branch def. Tomasz Drwal unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kyle Kingsbury def. Jared Hamma unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Yves Edwards def. John Gunderson unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight Bout
Cole Miller (16-4) vs. Ross Pearson (11-3)
Round 1- Pearson hits some low kicks. Miller returns one. Lots of dancing not much engaging. Miller gets a single leg but doesn’t execute to perfection. Finally gets him down but Pearson right back up. Boxing exchange. Beautiful jab by Pearson, he’s pushing the pace for sure. Miller lands a kick to a ribs but Pearson pounds him down right afterwards. Pearson 10-9 though the round itself was on the duller side.
Round 2- Miller comes out throwing impressive punches. Miller goes for a takedown, Pearson sprawls and lands on top. Back to standup, two big punches land from Pearson, both seem to sting. Miller comes at him with some sort of flying knee looking thing, it doesn’t really land but the punches that follow do. Pearson goes down, Miller seizes the moment and takes the back and wins with a rear naked choke. Cole Miller def. Ross Pearson via submission Round 2 (1:49)
Lightweight Bout
Jim Miller (17-2) vs. Gleison Tibau (21-6)
Round 1-They exchange blows to begin. Miller soon finds himself on bottom but is working from that position. He works his way back to a standup. Miller rocks Tibau big time with a jab, closes in and hits a few knees. Tibau recovers and scores a takedown but fails to utilize it. Miller goes for a takedown and they end up tied up on the cage. Miller rocks Tibau again and he responds by swinging wildly. The round ends quietly. Miller 10-9
Round 2- Miller hits Tibau with another bomb that nearly drops him. He stalks him across cage and tries to take his back. Tibau looks punch drunk. Miller pins him up against the cage, Rogan accuses him of giving Tibau a chance to recover. Goldberg points out how bruised Tibau’s back is. Tibau earns a takedown but quickly gives it up. Add for Mir/Cro Cop…thanks. Tibau gets another takedown and makes this one work for him. He remains there until the end of the round. Close round, a tale of 2 halves actually, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller giving him a 20-18 lead.
Round 3- Big hook for Tibau. Lots of trepidation on both sides. Lots of swings and lots of misses. Miller goes for a big knee but it does no damage. Nice combo for Miller. He goes in for the takedown and Tibau goes for the guillotine. Tibau seems lethargic this round. Tibau attempts a double leg but is stuffed. Ref separartes. 40 seconds left. Miller tries, fails, takedown. Tibau hits short elbow. Miller goes for a knee, ends up tied up and the round ends. Very tough round and fight to score, I guess Miller 10-9 just due to inactivity on Tibau’s part, 30-27 on our scorecard for Miller.
Jim Miller def. Gleison Tibau via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Goldberg takes time interviewing both Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop in an attempt to sell the least sellable PPV of the year.
Lightweight Bout
Efrain Escudero (13-1) vs. Charles Oliveira (13-0)
Round 1- I hear Escudero didn’t make weight…news to me. Flying knee from Oliveira. Escudero ties him up and moves him to the cage. Ref breaks em up. Oliveira remains the busier. Oliveira goes for a takedown but doesn’t seem to have the upper body strength to pull it off. A really goofy looking flying kick from Oliveira and takes a punch for it. Nice punch from Escudero, his first real blow of the match. Oliveira is lightning quick but needs a little bit more. Escudero gets a takedown and begins landing big, ugly elbows. Round ends…another tough one…10-9 Oliveira.
Round 2- Oliveira seems to single with every ounce of energy in his body and it still does no damage. Escudero shakes it off and lands a few strikes of his own. Oliveira gets a beautiful sweep for a take down but can’t gain position once he’s on top. Oliveira gets him in the clench and goes for a knee and then, oddly enough, a flying knee. Fun to watch but I wonder if he’s hurt Escudero at all. Escudero ducks another flying knee, both try for a takedown in order to win the round. This match is pretty much right down the middle…10-9 Escudero, 19-19 going into the final round.
Round 3- Brilliantly landed low blow by Oliveira to open. Escudero simply powers through and takes less than a minute off. Escudero just can’t seem to find a proper way to attack. Since it had been a minute or so Oliveira goes for another flying knee, it works about as well as the other. They tie up on the cage and Escudero returns the favor by kneeing Oliveira right on the package. Oliveia seems totally destroyed by it. The ref is really riding his ass about getting back in paying no attention to the 5 minute rule. Rogan is outraged. They’re back at it and Oliveria hits a massive takedown off the cage. When Escudero goes to standup he has his back taken and the Brazilian takes the opportunity to choke him to the point of tap out. Charles Oliveira def. Efrain Escudero via submission Round 3 (2:25)
Middleweight Bout
Nate Marquardt (29-9-2) vs. Rousimar Palhares (11-2)
Round 1- Well these two are going to look like giants after a night of Lightweight action. Herb Dean is reffing, do I have to mention the Thales Leites fight from UFC 85? Palhares is quite obviously eyeing the leg. Palhares hit an uppercut. Marquardt not doing adamn thing and we are half way through the round. Palhares gets a takedown, Marquardt decides to grapple with him, Palhares gains a North South choke. Palhares had the heel hook but let it slip, he then decides to piss and moan to the ref about oiled up legs and Marquardt takes the opportunity to take an uncontested shot right on the jaw. Ugly. Marquardt gets on top and grounds and pounds his way to victory. Palhares won’t let it go and continues to whine about Marquardt’s legs. Who’s to say, I suppose, though this could be an interesting story in the weeks to come. Nate Marquardt def. Rousimar Palhares via TKO Round 1 (3:28)
Rogan clears the air and says that officials and doctors checked out Marquardt’s legs and that they came out clean. Marquardt said that he came in sweaty and slippery on purpose but that just seems to be good game planning from my perspective.
Overall the show delivered just about what you were expecting. The main event didn’t live up to any hype it may have garnered but controversy always feels narcotic. Plus the Lightweight pecking order has a new look as, I feel, Jim Miller should probably be considered the #4 guy in the division. Plus the future looks exciting for Charles Oliveira.
Thanks for joining me, I hope you enjoyed the fights as much as me and have a great night!!
