Did Batista win his MMA debut last night (Oct. 6) at CES 12 in Rhode Island?

When Dave Bautista left WWE back in 2010, he did so because he was unhappy with the creative direction of the product. Simply put, he didn't like the PG rated shows he was asked to be a part of and he wanted a little more edge.

So he went to mixed martial arts (MMA) to satisfy his lust for legitimacy.

His debut went down last night (Oct. 6, 2012) at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, at CES 12 against Vince Lucero, a veteran journeyman with over 40 fights on his record to Bautista's goose egg.

It was highly entertaining before the bout even started. The commentary team listed off Bautista's WWE titles as though they were legitimate credentials, worthy of being ticked off while propping him up for an actual fight inside a cage.

Lucero slipped in with a few strong right hands that had Bautista backing up against the cage to start the bout. They clinched up for a minute but nothing came of it and once they backed out, Lucero went back to throwing bombs while Bautista looked clueless in his defense.

They clinched up again and while doing so, Lucero started waving to the crowd. That's how this was.

Upon the restart by the referee, Bautista grabbed a takedown and quickly passed to full mount before taking Lucero's back when he rolled over. He worked for a submission briefly before unloading punches on both sides of Lucero's head until the referee called it.

The two started screaming at each other immediately after the bout was called. Soon after, they made up and hugged it out before the official decision was read.

For complete results and blow-by-blow coverage of the entire CES 12 event click here.