Nogueira goes for a take down of Sylvia but is stopped and brought down. Sylvia keeps Nogueira from striking while trying to decide what to do. After a while, Sylvia allows Nogueira up. While both fighters are standing, Sylvia is able to land a punch that cuts Nogueria. Moments later, Sylvia is able to floor Nogueira with a solid punch and pounds Nogueira in the face, but Nogueira withstands and is allowed to get to his feet by Sylvia. Sylvia again takes down Nogueira, but is allowed to get back up. Nogueira makes a move towards the end of round by scoring a take down.
Sylvia is giving Nogueira no room to work inside and any take down attempt is quickly stopped. Nogueira again tries to go for a take down but Sylvia again with stands. Both fighters are primarily standing and throwing punches for most of the round.
Sylvia unloads a big punch to start the round that snaps Nogueira's head back. Nogueira goes for a take down, but Sylvia stops him but keeps him on the ground. Sylvia, for a while, works Nogueira on the ground, but Nogueira quickly changes position and makes his move. In little time, Nogueira locks on a gillotine choke and Syliva taps out at the 1:28 mark of the third round.
Nogueira wins the UFC Interim Heavyweight title.
Thank you for reading, good night from Las Vegas.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lesnar gets an early take down of Mir and begins to strike, but as quickly as he strikes the action stops. Referee Steve Mazzagatti stops the action to deduct a point from Lesnar for a strike to the back of Mir's head. The match restarts with both fighters at the neutral position. Lesnar again gains the upper hand and lands punches and elbows with Mir on his back. Mir tries for an arm bar and Lesnar gets away, but does not get far enought away as he leaves his legs open. Mir goes for a leg from his back and is able to get Lesnar in trouble. Within seconds, Lesnar is on the ground and and Mir has a knee bar locked on. Lesnar has no where to go and taps out 1:30 into the match.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Marquardt is in control from the beginning as he dominated Horn and scored a take down. Horn spent most of the first round on his back and covering up.
In the second round Horn got an early advantage as Marquardt slipped on the mat after throwing a kick. Marquardt recovered and was able to cinch in a guillotine choke hold forcing Horn to tap, 1:37 into the second round.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Almeida gets a take down of Yundt and, after a while, is able to lock in a guillotine choke on his back. Yundt gets to his feet and attempts to slam Almeida back on the mat. Almeida absorbs the punishment and rolls Yundt over. Yundt has no choice but to tap out at the 1:08 mark of the first round.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 7:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After limited action to start the match, Tibau appears to have control as he is able to move Griffin around while both are locked up. Griffin gets going offensively as he is able to strike Tibau for 30 seconds, landing solid blows. Tibau recovers enough to score a take down but Griffin is able to get back to his feet. Tibau again is moving Griffin around while both are locked up. Griffin was more aggressive in the round, but Tibau seemed to have better control.
Tibau scores a take down two minutes into the second round, but Griffin gets up. Griffin is not as aggressive in this round as he was in the previous round and the action has slowed down. Tibau scores another take down with less than 20 seconds left, but Griffin again gets up as the round ends.
More of the same. No fighter made an effort to try and gain an advantage and the round ends with both fighters on their feet.
Griffin wins on all three scorecards, 30-27.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lytle comes out strong and it doesn't take long. Lytle swings and barely misses, knocking down Bradley and forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stop the fight 33 seconds into the match. Bradley is so out of it that Lavigne stops the fight, Bradley thinks Lavigne is Lytle and locks up.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Both fighters dance around for the first 45 seconds of the match. Boetsch gets the first good shot and lands another solid kick more than halfway through the round. Boetsch lands and series of good punches with a minute left in the round and locks up Heath's head to muay-thai knees several times. When Boetsch was done with that, he tossed Heath into fence. Boetsch then landed a series of strikes to the back of Heath's unprotected head, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight at 4:52.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Martin comes out the the Bee Gee's "Staying Alive."
Martin quickly goes for a double underhook takedown but Eastman is able to roll through and work his way back up with little problem. Both fighters remained locked up throwing knees and punches, but nothing effective. The referee separates the fights at about the 2:45 mark and both fighters quickly lock up again. The referee again separates the two after one minute and 15 seconds later. Both fighters lock up again and after a while, Martin tries to go for a takedown but cannot get enough leverage as the round ends.
Both fighters come out swinging for the first 15 seconds until both fighters lock up again. Eastman stopped fighting for a split second, as if something was in his eye. The referee does not stop the action and Martin takes a free shot to the face of Eastman. Both fighters lock up and are separated. Eastman goes on the attack and pushes Martin back, but Martin is able to lock up and are again separated. Both fighters lock up and this time Eastman gets a takedown. But Martin is able to get back to his base as the second round ends.
Eastman gets the takedown to start the final round and tries to gets some punches in but Martin gets up. Eastman throws punches and kicks that makes noise and excites the crowd, but do little damage to Martin who has his guard up. With less than half the round left, Eastman lands a knee and a few strikes to stagger Martin back. Martin quickly hooks up and the two are separated. Martin scores a takedown but Eastman gets up.
Eastman wins by unanimous decision.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Round 1 - This was nearly all standup. Emerson landed a few solid right hands and appeared to be winning the round easily until a Nakamura knee floored him momentarily. Emerson recovered quickly, though. Nakamura may have stolen the round with the knee.

Round 2 - More of the same, mostly standup. Nakamura is cut under his left eye. He tried to steal the round near the end with a takedown.

Round 3 - Both fighters exchange fists in the match, but Emerson's shots seem to be causing more damage. With 30 seconds left in the match Nakamura scoring a take down but can only do that as the fight ends.

Emerson wins the fight with a split decision, 30-27, 30-27, 28-29.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Round 1 - This was nearly all standup. Emerson landed a few solid right hands and appeared to be winning the round easily until a Nakamura knee floored him momentarily. Emerson recovered quickly, though. Nakamura may have stolen the round with the knee.

Round 2 - More of the same, mostly standup. Nakamura is cut under his left eye. He tried to steal the round near the end with a takedown.

Round 3 - Both fighters exchange fists in the match, but Emerson's shots seem to be causing more damage. With 30 seconds left in the match Nakamura scoring a take down but can only do that as the fight ends.

Emerson wins the fight with a split decision, 30-27, 30-27, 28-29.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome to the Press-Telegram’s live coverage of UFC 81: Breaking Point at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The preliminary bouts will kick off the event with Keita Nakamura (14-2-2) against Rob Emerson (8-6) in a lightweight match. Middleweights Marvin Eastman (14-7-1) will take on Terry Martin (18-3) next. Tim Boetsch (6-1) and David Heath (9-2) will battle in the light heavyweight class. The final preliminary fight is at the welterweight class with Kyle Bradley (13-4, 1 no contest) against Chris Lytle (34-15-4).
The pay-per-view will start with a lightweight battle featuring Gleison Tibau (26-3) against Tyson Griffin (10-1). The middleweight class will be displayed next with Ricardo Almeida (8-2) against Rob Yundt. The swing bout of the night is another middleweight battle with Jeremy Horn (87-14-6) against Nate Marquardt (28-6-1).
The most anticipated fights of the night will start with heavyweights Brock Lesnar (1-0) making his UFC debut against Frank Mir (9-3). The main event is for the UFC interim heavyweight title with former PRIDE champion Rodrigo Nogueira (29-4-1) against Tim Sylvia (26-3), who is going for his third UFC title.

Posted by Andres Cardenas at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I had planned to post a podcast of an interview I did with former WWE superstar Rob Van Dam. We talked for close to 30 minutes about his RVD TV project, as well as Brock Lesnar making his UFC debut. Check back tomorrow (Saturday) before the fight and listen to Van Dam's opinion on how his former colleague will fare in mixed martial arts.

Also, we'll be updating this blog live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night with round-by-round coverage/opinion of UFC 81.

Posted by James Melroy at 1:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)