In the third preliminary card fight and the first televised fight at UFC 145, Mac Danzig picked up a unanimous decision win over Efrain Escudero in a battle of former TUF winners. The lightweight bout had some solid moments, but wasn't exactly a barnburner. The scores were 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.

Escudero was probably closest to finishing the fight when he locked up Danzig in a heel hook in the first round. Danzig escaped, but his ankle was extremely swollen not long after and appeared to be damaged. Danzig showed no signs of it for the rest of the fight though, backing Escudero against the cage continually and landing the better strikes in the clinch. Escudero wasn't completely outclassed on the feet or anything, but Danzig was clearly superior.

What was the high spot of this fight?

The heel hook. Or the closeup on Danzig's ankle before the third round, that really showed how damaged it was.

Where do these guys go from here?

Danzig desperately needed that win to stave off any thought of being released, and he got it. He might be out for a while depending on how his ankle is doing, but the winner of the T.J. Grant vs. Carlo Prater bout at UFC on Fuel 3 might be a good matchup for him.

Escudero's standup looked improved, but it still wasn't enough to overcome Danzig. He's probably facing his second release from the UFC.

Watch it now, later or never?

Later. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. I'd even lean towards giving it a pass if you're short on time.

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