Ultimate Fight Night 3 Results & Notes

Ultimate Fight Night 3 has to be ruled a success. The fights were entertaining and personalities shined in the post interviews. And of course there was the huge announcement! First, to the results and picks.

The main event saw Tim Sylvia vs Ausserio Silva with the winner becoming the #1 contender for Arlovski's heavyweight title. It seemed early that Tim was going to be able to control the fight. He continued to dominate until Ausserio caught him with a looping right hand in the second round. This cut open the former champion though it was not bad enough to end the fight. Tim even seemed a little rocked in this round but recovered and continued to score though Silva never seemed to be very hurt or in trouble. The final round saw the pace slow and the crowd began to boo. Tim came on and won the decision victory to become the #1 contender.

Stephen Bonner faced off against power stiker James Irvin (the sandman). They would not stand long as Bonner took control, and the fight, to the ground. There he sunk in a kimura and wrenched it with all he had. James held on for a while showing true toughness, but finally had to tap for the loss in the first round. After the fight Bonnar made it clear he is ready to step up and fight a "legend" or possibly Griffin again.

Josh Burkman came out faster than Drew Fickett and quickly took him down into a guillotine choke. Drew could not defend and was forced to tap out for a suprisingly quick loss. After the match, Burkman called out Diego Sanchez for a fight.

Bas Rutten's student, Bang Ludwig walked out and in one punch, KO'd Jonathan Goulet. I expected this would be a coming out party for the ultra talented Goulet, but he came into Bang with his hands down and was caught by the world class striker.

Chris Leben suprised some by KOing Jorge Rivera in the first round. It seemed as though Jorge had stunned Leben with a punch when Chris landed on of his own to end the fight. It seemed a little lucky to me but a win is a win.

Josh Neer pulled off an upset in my mind by submitting Melvin Guillard in the final round.

Spencer Fisher defeated Aaron Riley by TKO after Riley sustained an injury.

Jason Von Flue defeated Alex Karalexis by choke in round one.

The biggest news of the night was Matt Hughes will be fighting none other than Royce Gracie in May. Matt's welterweight title will NOT be on the line for this fight. Royce spoke saying that he "was home" in the house that he had built. It should make for a legendary fight. Next up for the UFC will be the PPV rubber match between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.
Another hard to pick fight night as the newly formed Mafia went 5 correct and 3 wrong. Not very good for our standards but there were a lot of upsets tonight. Stay tuned for the picks and advice for UFC 57.