Rashad Evans was victorious at UFC 108.
Rashad Evans went back to his wrestling roots to take home the first two rounds, before getting rocked and nearly finished in the third by fellow light heavyweight Thiago Silva.
Evans recovered to walk away with a unanimous decision victory over Silva.
Paul Daley earned a knockout victory over Dustin Hazelett to earn Knockout of the Night honors.
Sam Stout and Joe Lauzon picked up the Fight of the Night award, and Stout won a unanimous decision over Lauzon.
Jim Miller defeated Duane Ludwigh, while Junior Dos Santos picked up the first win on the main card with a TKO victory over Gilbert Yvel.
For full results see below.
- Rashad Evans def. Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Paul Daley def. Dustin Hazelett via KO (punch) – Round 1, 2:24
- Sam Stout def. Joe Lauzon via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jim Miller def. Duane “Bang” Ludwig via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:31
- Junior Dos Santos def. Gilbert Yvel via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:07
- Martin Kampmann def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:03
- Cole Miller def. Dan Lauzon via submission (kimura from inverted triangle) – Round 1, 3:05
- Mark Munoz def. Ryan Jensen via submission (punches) – Round 1, 2:30
- Jake Ellenberger def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:22
- Rafaello Oliveira def. John Gunderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Thought Rashad Evans showed a lot of heart and desire by getting rocked in the third round, maintaining his composure and regaining his equilibrium to secure a hard fought victory. Excellent game plan against an aggressive, tough as nails Silva, who seemed unable to deal with the speed of Evans’ takedowns. Also have to credit Rashad for even engaging in the third round, as I thought, barring knockout, he had the fight won at that point, and could have danced his way through the last round, but chose to mix it up.
Gilbert Yvel was definitely out when dos Santos closed the deal last night. All I saw were the whites of Yvel’s eyes as he went down. Waiting to see if dos Santos can handle a world class wrestler, and it looks like he will get the chance some time in 2010.
Stout/Lauzon was all you could ask for in an MMA match except a highlight reel finish. Agree with K-fan’s earlier comment, Hazelett needed to close and clinch with Daley to neutralize the powerful striker before he connected with bad ballistic intent. Miller’s triangle was classic, and all in all, a very enjoyable event.