I covered the entire prelims in the post right under this.

Diego’s first fight back at 170 is up first.

1. John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez

Sanchez tried for a takedown early and didn’t get it. Hathaway timed a knee to the head perfectly and nearly separated it from his neck. Hathaway spent three minutes trying to finish it. Sanchez took a lot of punishment. Could be a 10-8.

Diego got a takedown, but took too many clean shots. He also landed a few, but he lost another round. He’s leaving his head out there to be destroyed.

Hathaway kept it on the feet and stuffed every takedown attempt. He made Diego look amateurish on the feet.

Winner: John Hathaway by way of a unanimous decision

One judge gave Hathaway the first round 10-8.

2. Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Noguiera

Brilz is waiting for Nog to engage and the he’s looking to shoot. He took Nog down and made Nog work. Nog wasn’t able to set up his left hand.

Brilz got another takedown. Nog sunk in a guillotine and so did Brilz. Brilz held it for at least 30 seconds. Nog can’t set up his punches because Brilz is waiting to shoot and grab a leg.

Both guys are tired. Brilz is shooting at will. Nog looks more fresh, but he can’t stop the desperation shoots. Nog crucifixed his arms with a minute left but Brilz got out of it. Great transitions and reversals and escapes in the round. Could be 29-28 Brilz.

Winner: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by way of split decision

The crowd heavily booed the decision after cheering for Nog the entire fight.

3. Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee
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I’m live at the MGM at UFC 114. I’ll have play by play of the
prelims and then in another post, play by play of the live show.

Be back in an hour when the show stars.

1. Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes

I missed this fight but was told Jensen won by guillotine.

Winner: Ryan Jensen by way of first round submission

2. Joe Brammer vs. Aaron Riley

I missed much of the first round trying to figure out what happened in the first fight, but my friend DocG says he thought Brammer won the first and noted a flying knee as the big reason.

Riley scored a trip takedown in the middle of the first. Both guys are landing with Brammer landing the cleanest shots.

Riley scored another couple trip takedowns and dominated the pace of the third. Brammer threw some nice head kicks near the end of the round, but Riley blocked them. Close fight, but he wins it.

Winner: Aaron Riley by way of unanimous decision

30-27, all for Riley.

3. Cyrille Diabate vs. Luiz Cane
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David Haye’s manager Adam Booth yesterday appeared on Steve Bunce’s BBC London radio show to address the rumors surrounding Haye’s next opponent. Booth said that they are keeping all options open for the time being, and that next week he will settle down to talks with no less than six different potential adversaries.

He confirmed that the Klitschko brothers, Tomasz Adamek, Hasim Rahman and Audley Harrison were amongst those he would be speaking to. He made brief mention of both Shannon Briggs and James Toney, and also clarified that Nikolay Valuev does still have a rematch clause to exercise. There is clearly no shortage of options at Heavyweight for the Haymaker right now, so let’s take a look at what is on offer.

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They are teasing hard that this is the episode in which Tito leaves the show, forcing them to change one of the coaches for the show.

The show starts with a weigh-in for the Kyle Noke and Kris McCray fight.

Uh oh, here’s the tease for Tito leaving. He says that the doctor wants him to have neck surgery. He says he won’t let Chuck beat him if he’s not 100%.

McCray and Noke are buddies and Dana says one of the things he wants to teach them is that in the UFC, there are no friends. Well, unless you’re Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva. Or Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans. Or Josh Fitch and Josh Koscheck.

Kyle Noke vs. Kris McCray

The first round was a bit odd to me. Noke is clearly more talented, but he was getting a little cute with McCray. McCray just put his head down and wrestled and stayed out of submissions. It was that hard worker kind of round that the wrestlers usually get and I think it’s McCray’s round.

Noke was on his back the entire round. McCray took him down and kept him there.

Well, I got the first round wrong. They’re going to a third. What a boring fight this was. McCray took him down again and just held him there until they were stood up. Noke went for a kimura, but didn’t get close. If only Noke could wrestle.

Winner: Kris McCray by way of unanimous decision

It’s Brad Tavares against Seth Baczynski next.

Chuck hears about Tito and says that if he has to put up with Tito for six weeks, he better fight.

Seth Baczynski vs. Brad Tavares
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We have been following this one closely and for good reason. It’s a super grudge match that we’ve been waiting six months for. The UFC is fully behind it and thus, we’ve added a lot on our end too. We’ve recapped every UFC Primetime episode and have added the now infamous conference call as well.

And now our preview.

The FGB crew, along with Stevie J from Angry Marks and friend of FGB JP, are here with predictions for the main event.

Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson

Duan: Evans by unanimous decision
Alan: Evans by unanimous decision
Big D: Jackson by 2nd round TKO
Stevie J: Evans by unanimous decision
JP: Jackson by 2nd round TKO
Cactus Jim: Evans by unanimous decision
GG: Evans by unanimous decision

Duan says:

I’m not convinced that Rampage’s mind is on fighting right now. And even if it was, I still wouldn’t pick him to beat Rashad. This is a guy who struggled wildly with Keith Jardine, and got completely dissected by Forrest Griffin. I have always had the same one criticism of Jackson; and it concerns his movement. He’s flat footed and plodding. I think he struggles with guys who can utilize distance well, and that is where I think Rashad will have his number. This is going to be a boxing match, and technically Evans will be superior. Rampage does have the power to change the fight with one single shot, but I’m banking that he doesn’t find that shot.

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Some have called it the worst WWE PPV of the year so far and while not bad, it’d be hard to disagree. Part of the reason this show was as average as it was had nothing to do with the matches. Some of it was just bad luck.

Here’s what we thought about the show:

Duan
Thumbs Down (leaning)
Best Match: The Hart Dynasty vs. Chris Jericho and The Miz
Worst Match: Randy Orton vs. Edge

Usually WWE deliver good main event matches, and thus no matter how bad the show has been up to that point, you go away feeling somewhat content. This was quite the opposite. I really enjoyed a lot of the early stuff. It was nice to see Kofi getting the big PPV win. Punk/Mysterio was enjoyable; even if it wasn’t some of their better work. And the tag title match was the highlight of the show for me.

Now, the second half of this show was an unmitigated disaster. Orton went down with the injury just as things were beginning to get going, and his match with Edge was waved off. Then Swagger/Show made it two non-finishes in a row. We had our usual worthless divas segment, and then a disappointing headliner. I have loved the Cena/Batista feud, but for me this was the worst match they have had. Not awful, just disappointing. I can’t say Over The Limit was a complete waste of time because of the 2 or 3 good early bouts, but if you didn’t see it you weren’t missing much.

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