Before the UFC 155: "Dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2" main card kicked off on pay-per-view (PPV) tonight (Sat., Dec. 29, 2012) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, an entire seven-bout "Prelims" under card was broadcast on Facebook and FX, respectively.
In the final bout of the evening, bantamweights Eddie Wineland and Brad Pickett put on a barnburner of a brawl to get fans amped up for the pay-per-view main card as Wineland hurt "One Punch" three times in the opening frame, landing sharp counter strikes to make Pickett pay for his constant forward aggression.
Wineland wasn't able to hurt Pickett in the second or third rounds, but was still countering effectively while Pickett never gave up with his forward aggression, which left both men bloodied and bruised. In the end, two of the judges awarded Wineland a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.
A potential new bantamweight star was crowned as "Goyito" Erik Perez completely and utterly destroyed Byron Bloodworth via vicious first round TKO. The Mexican fighter dropped Bloodworth with a knee to the body and then completely overwhelmed him with an onslaught of ground and pound, opening up a gruesome cut on the overmatched fighter and eventually finishing him in the first round.
Perez proceeded to win over the crowd with an enthusiastic post-fight interview while wearing a luchadore mask.
In lightweight action, Myles Jury scored a surprise upset by absolutely dominating Michael "The Menace" Johnson in a fifteen minute beatdown which featured about 10 minutes of top control. Jury repeatedly took Johnson down throughout the three-round affair, countering all of Johnson's aggression with well-timed takedowns.
Jury repeatedly passed guard and dropped ground and pound on the frustrated Blackzilian, easily taking home a dominant unanimous decision victory on all three judges' scorecards.
Heavyweights Todd Duffee and Philip De Fries put on a wild back-and-forth two-minute war as both men had their moments, with Duffee landing heavy shots early but De Fries scoring a takedown. De Fries poured on some heavy punches with Duffee stuck against the fence but after creating some separation, Duffee put an end to the fight in emphatic fashion.
It started with an uppercut up the middle which knocked De Fries against the cage and Duffee swarmed with a series of repeated right hands which hurt the Englishman badly before a left hook sent him to the ground as the referee intervened.
In a thrilling featherweight battle, young gun Max Holloway took on the always exciting Leonard Garcia in a highly competitive bout. Both Holloway and Garcia got their licks in, with Garcia trying to get inside and smash Holloway with his powerful hooks while Holloway worked straight punches and counters while mixing in the occasional kicks.
Holloway dropped Garcia early and was getting the better of the exchanges in the first half of the fight, but he surrendered a few takedowns and slowed down as the fight wore on, which was where Garcia really turned it on.
In the incredibly entertaining third round, Garcia pushed the pace and really made Holloway stay on his heels, trading heavy shots on the inside as the crowd roared. When it was all said and done, Holloway was granted a split decision victory, taking 29-28 on two of the judges' scorecards, much to the dismay of the latino fans in attendance.
Opening up the fight card was an important flyweight bout pitting veteran Chris Cariaso against rising prospect John Moraga. Both men hung close in a very even and relatively patient first two rounds which featured some good counter striking from Moraga and some spontaneous kicks and combinations from Cariaso.
With the third round potentially being the deciding frame, Moraga stepped up his aggression, pressing forward and reversing a Cariaso clinch attempt into a slick guillotine choke while pressing "Kamikaze" into the fence. Cariaso had nowhere to go and was forced to tap out.
Here are the complete results from the UFC 155 preliminary card:
135 lbs.: Eddie Wineland defeats Brad Pickett via split decision
135 lbs.: Erik Perez defeats Byron Bloodworth via TKO at 3:50 of round one
155 lbs.: Jamie Varner defeats Melvin Guillard via split decision
155 lbs.: Myles Jury defeats Michael Johnson via unanimous decision
265 lbs.: Todd Duffee defeats Philip De Fries via TKO at 2:04 of round one
145 lbs.: Max Holloway defeats Leonard Garcia via split decision
125 lbs.: John Moraga defeats Chris Cariaso via submission at 1:11 of round three
That's it for the "Prelims" portion of the UFC 155 fight card.
Be sure to hit up MMAmania.com's for up to the minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of the rest of the night's UFC 155 PPV action by clicking here.