Light Heavyweight: Jimi Manuwa def. Kyle Kingsbury via TKO (doctor's stoppage) after two rounds.
Manuwa came in swinging wildly and Kingsbury took advantage of his off-balance opponent for the take down. Kingsbury worked for a d'arce choke from top position but Manuwa was able to fight back to his feet. Kingsbury shot in immediately but Manuwa sprawled and landed a vicious left hook. Then a right hook that dropped Kingsbury. Manuwa let Kingsbury get back to his feet and landed a flying knee to the face, a left hook to the liver and a kick to the face. Then a knee to the face, a pair of lefts, and a punching combination before a knee to the face really hurt Kingsbury. Kingsbury managed to survive even as his left eye swelled shut. Manuwa continued to attack. Kingsbury survived the round but went back to his corner looking like the Frankenstein monster.
Kingsbury got a quick take down in the second round and stalled briefly in Manuwa's half guard. Manuwa got out the back door and they assumed a standing clinch. Manuwa began to hurt Kingsbury with knees and had him staggered again before going for a Peruvian necktie attempt. Kingsbury survived that threat, took top position and landed some elbows to finish the round.
Between rounds officials stopped the fight because Kingsbury could not see out of his swollen left eye.
Featherweight: Akira Corassani def. Andy Ogle via decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28).
Both fighters were veterans of The Ultimate Fighter making delayed UFC debuts due to injury.
Ogle caught Corassani with a couple of left hands, both of which dropped him But Corassani recovered and fought back to his feet. Corassani answered with a spinning kick that he followed with a hard overhand right that staggered Ogle. Both men were bruised and bloodied entering the final minute of the round. Ogle shot in but Corassani fended him off.
Round two saw Ogle trying to force a take down early but getting stuffed. Ogle continued to come out the worse for the standing exchanges but couldn't get anything going with his wrestling when he tried to force the fight to the ground. With a minute left Ogle finally managed to get Corassani down and threatened with a guillotine choke on a kneeling Corassani. Ogle released the hold to fire off some strikes at Corassani only to be dropped by a right hook from Corassani after the bell.
In the final round, Corassani caught Ogle with a kick as he came up from a failed take down attempt and briefly dropped Ogle. Ogle recovered and again shot in, this time getting Corassani down and trying to take his back but the two were trapped in an odd stalemate as Ogle threatened to attain a back crucifix while Corassani kept Ogle off balance. Ogle eventually got better control of the position and improved it by landing some sharp elbows from the top. He maintained position and continued to batter a turtled Corassani through the end of the fight.
Ogle falls to 8-2, 0-1 UFC as a pro and Corassani improves to 10-3, 1-0 UFC (1 NC).
Middleweight: Brad Tavares def. Tom Watson via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) .
After some early exchanges Tavares shot in for a take down but Watson quickly cage walked back to his feet. Tavares seemed to be connecting better early, but Watson corrected his range and began to land his share. In the final minute of the first, Tavares again shot in but couldn't keep Watson down. Tavares endured a couple of low blows and the ref issued a warning after the second offense.
In the second they once again traded standing strikes at fairly close range. Watson worked to get the Thai plum but couldn't and Tavares forced the fight to the cage to work for take downs that Watson fended off. Both men landed at distance before Tavares shot in and got Watson down farther from the cage. Tavares quickly took Watson's back and threatened a choke but gave it up to score some damage from the top as the round expired.
Round three opened with sharp exchanges before Watson reversed a take down with a kimura attempt, only to eat a knee to the face on his way up. Tavares again shot in from center cage and put Watson on his back. Watson spent much of the final round fending off take down attempts against the cage but when the two did exchange they both landed hard blows. In the end Tavares' wrestling edge made the difference.
Tavares improves to 4-1 in the UFC with his sole loss being a decision dropped to Aaron Simpson. Watson lost his UFC debut and fell to 15-5 overall as a pro.
Catchweight (183 lbs): Gunnar Nelson def. DaMarques Johnson via submission (rear naked choke) at of round 1.
Nelson came in and showed off his unusual Karate-based striking to start the bout. He landed a couple of kicks from outside Johnson's striking range before shooting for a double leg take down against the fence. Johnson initially threatened with an omaplata shoulder lock but was unable to use it to sweep Nelson. Nelson then transitioned to full mount, forcing Johnson to roll to his back and Nelson finished it quickly from there.
Johnson fought on 12 days notice and wasn't able to make the 175 lb. catchweight agreed upon when the fight was signed. Instead they fought at 183 lbs. Johnson came in off an August 4 TKO loss to Mike Swick at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera. He falls to 4-6 in the UFC and 16-12 in his MMA career.
The highly touted Nelson won his UFC debut and improves to 9-0-1 as a pro.
Featherweight: Robbie Peralta def. Jason Young via TKO at 0:23 of round 1.
Strikeforce veteran Robbie Peralta improved his UFC record to 2-0, 1 NC with a 0:23 KO of Jason Young in UFC Featherweight action to open the card. Peralta backed Young up against the cage and caught him with a right-hand haymaker that dropped Young. Peralta followed up with more stikes to the face and head of a supine Young and forced the referee to stop the action. Young drops to 0-3 in the UFC and might be cut following this loss.
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