Former Pride Middleweight and UFC Light Heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua scored a fourth round stoppage over Brandon Vera in a Light Heavyweight bout that headlined a UFC card at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It was a back and forth battle that saw Vera attempt to choke Rua out in round one. Round two saw Rua rock Vera with some hard shots that caused a cut from the left eye of Vera. The two went back and forth landing hard shots on each other and the fight was setting up to be a war of attrition. Rua landed a huge right hand in round four that sent Vera wobbling back towards the cage. Rua quickly followed up with with punches to head while Vera was trying to cover up on the ground. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 4:09 of round four.
Rua, 205 lbs of Cuntigua, Brazil is now 21-6. Vera, 203.8 lbs of San Diego is now 12-6-1.
Former Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida scored a chilling second round stoppage over Ryan Bader.
Machida dominated the first round with kicks to Bader, not offering Bader any opportunity to get inside. When Bader attempted to do that in round two, he got got with a huge right on the chin that had him down and out. Machida landed two needless punches before the fight was called.
After the show UFC head Dana White was to decide which of between Rua and Machida would get a crack at the winner of the upcoming UFC Light Heavyweight battle between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson
Machida, 201 lbs of Belem, Brazil is now 18-3. Bader, 205 lbs of Tempe, AZ is now 15-3.
Joe Lauzon scored a third round choke out of Jamie Varner in a thrilling Lightweight bout.
Varner came out strong as he landed some fast combinations. Lauzon had a strong round two as he had Varner in several near submissions. In round three, Lauzon was successful in locking in a triangle choke and Varner tapped at 2:44 of round three.
Lauzon, 155.8 lbsof Bridgewater, MA is now 21-7. Varner, 156 lbs of Dobson Shores, AZ is now 20-7-1-2
Mike Swick made a triumphant return after a lengthy illness as he knocked out DaMarques Johnson in round two of their Welterweight bout.
The two traded heavy blows in round one with Swick getting the better. In round Two, Johnson fell short with a right kick and Swick seized the counter opportunity and landed a booing right hand that sent Johnson to the canvas and two flush follow up right hands to the defenseless face of Johnson had the fight stopped at 1:20 of round two.
Swick, 170 lbs of San Jose, CA is 15-4. Johnson, 171 lbs of Salt Lake City, UT is now 18-11
