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Written by Andrew Gladstone
UFC 114 took place at a sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and featured a high-profile bout between former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans.
The UFC event kicked off with two live preliminary card bouts on Spike TV as Efrain Escudero took on Dan Lauzon, and the ever popular Amir Sadollah took on Dong Hyun Kim.
Efrain Escudero would display his striking skills on a clearly outmatched Dan Lauzon. After the first round, it was evident that Lauzon was clearly fatiguing in the fight as Escudero was pushing the action. In the third round Efrain was deducted a point for kicking Lauzon south of the border, but to Lauzon’s credit, he held on and engaged Escudero in a slugfest to close out round three. Efrain Escudero won via unanimous decision.
Amir Sadollah tasted his second UFC loss at the hands of Dong Hyun Kim. From the opening bell, it became evident Kim was the far superior grappler. Kim immediately took Sadollah down off a leg kick, maintained top position, and closed out the round by taking Amir’s back. The action picked up a bit in round two as Amir did a better job scrambling to his feet after being taken down, however, Kim was able to secure more takedowns at the end of the round trapped Amir’s arm and began pounding him in half guard. In round three, Kim took down Amir with a single leg and spent much of the round on top, however, Amir would scramble to his feet late in the round and even though he was fatigued he was able to land a few decent strikes to close out the round. Dong Hyun Kim won via unanimous decision.
The first bout on the pay-per-view portion of the card kicked off with welterweights Diego Sanchez and John Hathaway. At the start of round one, Diego pushed for the takedown but it was to no avail and as Diego tried to set up another takedown he was quickly met with a knee by Hathaway. Hathaway would try to finish, but Diego would hold on tough after eating hammerfists, but all Diego could do was hold on. Round two saw Diego fair a bit better, but Hathaway was clearly out-striking him and all Diego could do is score a takedown that Hathaway quickly got back up from. In round three, Hathaway continued out-striking Sanchez and it appeared evident that Sanchez was outmatched. Hathaway defeated Sanchez via unanimous decision.
Next on the card was a bout between Antonio Rogerio Noguiera and Jason Brilz that ended in controversy. In the first round Brilz took Nogueira down on numerous occasions and secure top position. Round two went underway with Nogueira trying to pick up the action on the feet, but Brilz brought Nogueira down to the mat and at one point had Nogueira caught in a deep guillotine choke for minutes, but Nogueira managed to escape. In round three it appeared that Brilz was tired, despite getting the single leg takedown, and Nogueira ended up reversing Brilz and securing top position. The judges awarded Nogueira the bout via split decision, however most people thought Brilz had won.
In what has to be the biggest upset of the night, Mike Russow knocked out Todd Duffee. Rounds 1 and two both saw Duffee landing powerful punches on the face of Russow, and Russow couldn’t come close to securing a takedown. In the middle of round three, after taking a tremendous beating, Russow tagged Duffee with a powerful, last ditch effort, right hand that sent Duffee to the canvas.
The co-main event featured “The Count” Michael Bisping and the former IFL middleweight champion Dan Miller. The first round was incredibly close, with both men seemed to land a few small flurries. In the next round Bisping seemed to come out stronger and tagged Miller, utilizing his sharp boxing. Round three saw Bisping do much of the same as round two, however Miller secured a takedown, and Miller was able to score a right hook towards the end of the round to try and keep it close. In the end it was Michael Bisping who got the unanimous decision victory.
In the main event former UFC light heavyweight champions “Sugar” Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson finally squared off in the octagon. Round one saw Rashad tag Rampage immediately with a right hand, pressed Rampage against the fence, and secured a double leg takedown. In the next round, Rashad proved to be elusive and utilized his speed advantage, Rashad would keep pressing Jackson into the fence and ended up securing another takedown. The final round of action, saw Quinton hurt Rashad after stuffing his takedown and landing a powerful uppercut. However, Rashad would cover up and scramble to his feet and secured two takedowns and stayed busy on top. Rashad Evans won via unanimous decision.
Full UFC 114 Results
Main Card
Rashad Evans defeated Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Michael Bisping defeated Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
Mike Russow defeated Todd Duffee via KO (punch) at 2:35 in round 3
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeated Jason Brilz via split decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
John Hathaway defeated Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Preliminary Card (Spike TV)
Dong Hyun Kim defeated Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Efrain Escudero defeated Dan Lauzon via unanimous decision. (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Preliminary Card
Melvin Guillard defeated Wayn Lowe via TKO (strikes) 3:28 of round 1
Cyrille Diabate defeated Luiz Cane via TKO (strikes) at 2:13 of round 1
Aaron Riley defeated Joe Brammer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Jensen defeated Jesse Forbes via guillotine choke at 1:06 of round 1
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