Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) just completed the Facebook undercard portion of its UFC 137: "Penn vs. Diaz" event tonight (Sat., Oct. 29, 2011) at the Mandalay Bay .
Tonight marked the return of Brandon Vera, who we last saw on all fours having his back played like a bongo set by fellow UFC light heavyweight fighter Thiago Silva.
Silva later tested positive for a urine adulterant, is currently serving out a one-year suspension and his win over Vera was changed to a "No Contest."
In the wake of all the drama, Vera was released by Zuffa, then almost immediately re-hired and is now back in the Octagon looking to prove that he still belongs.
Welcoming Vera back to the UFC (even though he technically never left) was former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banger Eliot Marshall.
After two very forgettable (and easy to ignore) rounds, Marshall found his rhythm early in the third, clipping Vera with a right hand to the head that left him wobbled. Vera was nearly finished but managed to hang on somehow.
Late in the round, Marshall sunk in a deep armbar that looked to break Vera's arm, but incredibly, Vera refused to tap. Unfortunately for Marshall, he was already two rounds behind at that point and ended up losing the decision to Vera.
Kudos to "The Truth" for getting himself back on the "win wagon."
Ramsey Nijem doesn't drink beer often, but when he does...he takes his clothes off and dances on top of other men on national television.
At least that's the picture that was painted for fans who watched The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 13.
Nijem showed everyone that he was more than just the life of the party. He proved that he has a more than adequate skill set by winning three fights and making it all the way to the series finals. Unfortunately, he lost that bout to the winner, Tony Ferguson.
Tonight, Nijem made his first foray into the UFC cage since his time on the reality television show as he took on top prospect Danny Downes.
For three round, Nijem took "Danny Boy" down, beat him up and nearly submitted him on countless occasions, before finally getting the unanimous decision nod in a dominant performance.
Good on Downes for surviving and not being finished, but after two consecutive performances like this, it may be time to go back to the drawing board.
Like Brandon Vera, Chris Camozzi was also making his UFC re-entrance after being cut by the organization in February.
"Kamikaze" fought journeyman Joey Villasenor at Shark Fights 15 on May 27 in New Mexico. Camozzi was able to come away with a split decision win that probably should not have been as close on the score cards as it turned out to be.
His opponent, Francis Carmont, was making his UFC debut and looking to make a name for himself at Camozzi's expense.
Camozzi just never looked good in this one. Carmont, the Georges St. Pierre disciple, was all over Camozzi from the opening horn. He used dirty boxing, elbows and knees to completely overwhelm his opponent.
This was probably not the "welcome back to the UFC" party Camozzi had in mind.
At the very end of the fight, Camozzi put everything he had into a kimura attempt that looked very threatening, but the clock expired before he was able to properly crank on Carmont's arm. Too little, too late.
The fight ended with Camozzi's face bloodied and Carmont's arm raised, notching the well deserved unanimous decision victory in his promotional debut.
Before all the shaking and moving caused by injuries and other issues with this card, Dustin Jacoby was originally slated to fight former TUF cast member Brad Tavares on the main card. After an injury forced Tavares off the card, Jacoby moved back from the pay-per-view portion of the event to the Facebook prelims in a fight pitting him against Clifford Starks.
Before tonight, Jacoby was a perfect 6-0 in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career outside the UFC. Similarly, Jacoby's opponent, Starks, also was making his UFC debut after holding a previously perfect record.
One thing was for sure, someone was going to leave with their first loss.
Sometimes you see fighters trying not to lose more than they're trying to win. This fight epitomized that type of effort, particularly in regard to Jacoby.
For three rounds, Jacoby looked tight and nervous and received loud criticism from his corner, Marc Fiore, for not sticking to the gameplan. The bright lights change make men crumble.
Starks used his wrestling to remain undefeated and take down the unanimous decision. Not a pretty way to start off the broadcast, but congratulations to Starks for winning his UFC debut on very short notice. Well done.
To check out MMAmania.com's LIVE UFC 137 results post, which includes up-to-the-minute, blow-by-blow coverage of EVERY fight click here.
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