The middle of the UFC Fight Night 73 main card featured two bouts that were polar opposites of each other. The first was a sloppy, plodding heavyweight battle that only had a bit of excitement at the end, and even that was fleeting. The was an action-packed, one-sided beating in the middleweight division that ended in the first round. Here's how it went down.
Derek Brunson defeated Sam Alvey by TKO (strikes), 2:19 of round 1
Brunson pressed forward into the clinch immediately and bodied Alvey for a while. He connected with two good shots over the top, and avoided Alvey's counters. He landed another left, and another, and got a little wild while continuing to clubber Alvey with them. Against a solid counterfighter like Alvey that could have spelled trouble, but it didn't in this case. He landed at least 12 big punches before Alvey finally went down, and quickly finished him off on the ground. The crowd and Alvey weren't happy about the stoppage since it seemed like he still wasn't all that dazed, but it was over nonetheless.
Jared Rosholt defeated Timothy Johnson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
This was extremely dull for about 98% of the fight. Lots of clinching and sloppy work on the ground, broken up with some lazy striking on the feet. Rosholt was in control the entire time until late in the third round when he gassed out. Johnson was catching him with big shots and had him hurt, but inexplicably went for a takedown and the fight ended with a whimper on the ground. Rosholt held on for the underwhelming decision.