It was an exciting night of MMA action at The Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday night (1.23), as the UFC put on its 12th Fight Night installment. Here's a recap of the main card in order of broadcast on SpikeTV:
Nate Diaz vs. Alvin Robinson (Lightweight)
- The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner gave the opening match a shot of intensity right out of the gate, which led to a submission battle afterwards. Diaz' style of fighting in the Octagon eventually helped him in this match, as Robertson tapped out in a triangle choke under a minute and a half before the end of the first round, much like his last appearance in September.
Thiago Tavares vs. Michihiro Omigawa (Lightweight)
This clash of two MMA cultures (Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo, respectively) was practially the dullest of the night. The ground game dominated the first round, as mindgames did in round two, which got the crowd impatient. Omigawa looked as though he dominated the final round (and maybe the match), but bloody nose and all, he wound up being no match for Tavares, who won by unanimous decision.
Patrick Côté vs. Drew McFedries (Middleweight)
Back in June, McFedries made short work of Jordan Radev, ending the match 30 seconds into the first round. However, a match which was intense throughout ended just that same way, as "The Predator" backed McFedries into a corner and pounded away to score the win at 1:44 of the first round.
Mike Swick vs. Josh Burkman (Welterweight)
The main event of the evening featured Swick in his welterweight debut after a tenure in the middleweight division, and featured a rather controversial ending. At times, Burkman took the match to the cage, but Swick got momentum going his way during the second round with a roundhouse kick to Burkman's right thigh. Burkman looked injured for a bit, but the fight was not stopped and was able to get off to a fast start in the third and final round. Even though Swick looked spent down the stretch, he managed to turn quick spurts of action into the hurry-up-and-wait tempo which dominated the match seemingly the whole way.
This match was too close to call, though Burkman looked to be the victor. The crowd at The Palms thought so too, as they booed the judges' decision to give Swick the win by majority decision, his first in the welterweight class.