By Cole Miller, RCM MMA Correspondent
Shield’s takes a split decision over Maia. They fought a grappling/clinch heavy hard fight where both men had moments of control over their opponent. Half way through the fight Maia seemed to find his striking rhythm and started to land on Shields. Jake however pushed through his fading gas tank to press the takedowns. In the end the judges gave it to Jake Shields 48-47, 48-47and 47-48 for the split decision.
Dong Hyun Kim punches Erick Silva ticket to dreamland. Both men came out looking for a finish anywhere the fight went. Kim took a hard shot in the beginning of the second and Erick kept his aggression on trying to finish Kim. Then both men looked to throw left hands Kim’s proved to be the quicker. Knocking Silva unconscious and followed up with a hammer fist for good measure. Kim’s performance reinforced the statement always expect the unexpected.
Thiago Silva makes the hammer the nail for a unanimous decision. Silva used a heavy low kick attack to wear Hamill down. Mark had a couple moments while either landing boxing combinations or takedowns. Silva helped cement the win with a knockdown in the 2nd round. This will help Silva rebuild his career after some recent set backs.
Fabio Maldonado takes a split decision in a tough fight with Joey Beltran. Fabio knew what he had to do but Beltran was making it a tough fight at every turn. Maldonado’s boxing looked great short, fast and sharp punching combination , and mixing his combinations up high and low like no other light heavy weight . Fabio had a hard time with moving straight backwards or just not moving at all. This gave Joey his chances to move straight forward with big wide punches and that was the outline of the fight. Both man had great moments and the judges could have gave it to either man. This night was Fabio night taking the split decision.
Rousimar Palhares surprises the world and gets a heel hook submission. Mike Pierce had little chance to do anything except tap for too long. Mike got a take down just to have Palhares jumped on a heel hook. Mike defended perfectly then Rousimar faked high then jumped on a second heel hook. This time it was too fast and too tight. Palhares is still an asshole if anyone was still wondering. After securing the submission he refused to let go. Rousimar’s action did make him banned from submission of the night bonus. Which I feel is too lightly just because this is the second time in the UFC that he has refused to let go when his opponent has tapped. Time will tell if anything else comes from this incident.
Raphael Assuncao takes a split decision from T.J. Dillashaw. Both men had great moments. Dillashaw used grappling to control Assuncao on the ground, while Raphael used good boxing to sway the fight in his favor. But no one should hold their head down. The judges just went in favor of the Brazilian.
Rest of The Card
Igor Araujo Def. Ildemar Alcantar unanimous decision
Yan Cabral Def. David Mitchell unanimous decision
Chris Cariaso Def. Iliarde Santos TKO punches
Rd 2, 4:31 Alan Patrick Def. Garett Whiteley TKO punches Rd 1, 3:45
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