June 12, 2011 – The Ultimate Fighting Championhip (UFC) put their most recent PPV event behind them last night with UFC 131 taking place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In the gargantuan main event of the evening, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ (TUF 13) coach Junior dos Santos saw himself become number-one contender for the heavyweight title after battering Shane Carwin in a three-round slugfest. “Cigano” used a devastating jab to bloody the “Engineer” from Colorado early in round one, trapping him against the fence and unloading a flurry of punches that nearly had the referee stop the fight before the end of round one. Carwin was a survivor though, enduring the entire three-round-fight while showing incredible resiliency and improved cardiovascular endurance against the dangerous Brazilian.
With this marking his seventh straight UFC win, Junior dos Santos has now earned a heavyweight title shot for the second time in a row and will take on UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez later on this year.
In the UFC 131 co-main event, former middleweight and lightweight contender Kenny Florian made his debut at featherweight against a WEC veteran in Nova União’s Diego Nunes. The Brazilian put on a scrappy performance in this one, taking it to Ken-Flo with a wild assortment of strikes to win round one. Thankfully for the Bostonian, the weight cut did not seem to be a factor as he was able to win a unanimous decision and his own title shot against another Nova União product in UFC Featherweight champion José Aldo.
In a middleweight showdown, Demian Maia and Mark Muñoz put on a scintillating performance as both tried mightily to climb their way up the divisional ladder. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and collegiate All-American took the fight to every level as it featured everything from near knockouts to thrilling submission escapes to everything in between. In the end, their grappling prowess cancelled each other’s out and the difference came in the standup department where the Filipino held the edge. With three wins in a row now, look for the “Philippine Wrecking Machine” to face a top opponent on his next trip to the octagon.
Also on the main card, heavyweights Jon Olav Einemo and Bellator-veteran Dave Herman made their octagon debut in style as the two behemoths stood toe-to-toe for the entirety of their bout before “Pee Wee” Herman landed a blistering knee to the chin of the Norwegian that set up the fight-ending ground and pound for the TKO.
In the last fight of the main card, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone proved that the days of the specialist in the UFC are all but over. Taking on debuting Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Vagner Rocha, “Cowboy” avoided any and all takedowns the Pablo Popovitch-trained Rocha threw his way while punishing his opponent with a bevy of punishing leg kicks which left the Brazilian wincing in pain as the fight came to a close with a lopsided decision win in favor of the New Mexican.
UFC 131 – Full Results
Main PPV Card
- Junior Dos Santos defeats Shane Carwin via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Kenny Florian defeats Diego Nunes via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Mark Munoz defeats Demian Maia via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Dave Herman defeats Jon Olav Einemo via TKO (Punches) in Round 2, 3:19
- Donald Cerrone defeats Vagner Rocha via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Sam Stout defeats Yves Edwards via KO (Punch) in Round 1, 3:52
SPIKE TV Undercard
- Chris Wiedman defeats Jesse Bongfeldt via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in Round 1, 4:54
- Krzysztof Soszyński defeats Mike Massenzio via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
Facebook Undercard
- Nick Ring defeats James Head via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 3, 3:33
- Dustin Poirier defeats Jason Young via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Joey Beltran defeats Aaron Rosa via TKO (Unanswered Blows) in Round 3, 1:26
- Darren Elkins defeats Michihiro Omigawa via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
TXMMA (Mike Calimbas) Predictions Results (link) – We went five-for five for 100% accuracy on the main card and went 9 for 13 overall this time around.
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