Written by Lady J

Our own Stevie J is in the crowd at tonight's UFC 74 - LIVE from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV. He will be providing play-by-play for Dark Matches, but will add comments on the televised matches at a later time. Continue to refresh this post throughout the night to see the results.

Dark Matches:

Clay Guida vs. Marcus Aurelio

Aurelio vs. Guida video just aired, that match is up first. Aurelio steps into the octagon first. Guida is coming out, and the place exploded for him, even though it is only half full. Buffer announces Marcus first to some light boos, then Guida is announced to a big pop. Mazzagatti is the ref for this one.

Guida hits Aurelio with a doozy of a kick - could hear the snap up all the way up where I’m sitting! Marcus is running away a lot. Clay just rocked him! Marcus was on his back for a bit but survived. Clay has full mount as the round ends. It was an easy 10-9 for Guida. Slow at first but really got hot at the end.

Aurelio goes down early in Round 2, but he may have slipped. Guida just gave him a Lou Thesz press! Guida has side control. Marcus may be looking for a leg triangle. Clay mounts up and rocks him. Clay throws hammers down as Round 2 ends, 10-9 maybe even 10-8.

Guida gets a leg kick followed by a big right to start Round 3. Big pop for Guida – they love him! Every time he lands a punch, the crowd goes nuts. He just got a pop for sprawling out of a takedown attempt. Round 3 should go in Guida’s favor as well.

Judges scores are 30-27, 29-28, and 30-27. Guida wins a split decision - which both I and Joe Rogan questioned. I actually wrote "unaninmous" before the result was announced just because that's what I expected. How anybody could see this other than unanimous for Guida is unfathomable.

Ryan Jensen vs. Thales Leites

Jensen video is up first - he's from Nebraska. Then they show comments from Leites, "Dis fight will be mine!" Jensen comes out to "Sirius" by the Alan Parsons Project. Leites comes out to Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up." Jensen is announced as being from Omaha, with a record of 11-1. The ref for this one is Herb Dean.

Jensen is rocking Leites, nearly got choke but only a takedown. Leites took Jensen down looking for a choke, but Jensen gets back to his feet. Leites gets a lightning fast armbar for the tap. The winner at 3:47 in Round 1 by armbar submission is Thales Leites. He thanks God and the UFC, says Jensen tried to turn his back and left his arm wide open. It was a good, exciting fight.

Frank Mir vs. Antoni Hardonk

Mir vows to show is true skills with no handicap or injury. Hardonk has his own custom rap theme song playing as he enters the ring. The chorus says "You'll tap out to the beating." Mir comes out to Nas' "Hate Me Now." Hardonk's record is announced as 5-3. Former Heavyweight Champ Mir is 9-3 and fighting out of Las Vegas. Big pop for Mir. Big John McCarthy is the ref.

Mir takes Hardonk down, spins him around, throws elbows to the head, and grabs the arm. Mir is your winner, with the kimura submission at 1:17 in Round 1. Mir says "I'm back!" to the camera after the win. Mir says his losing streak is over and that the REAL Frank Mir is back. Of the Kimura, he says he could have switched to armbar but, "I decided to pitbull it." Mir did look awesome, this is a HUGE win for him.

Renato Sobral vs. David Heath

David Heath comes out first, hailing from Nowata, OK. His theme music sounds somewhat like Alice In Chains. Sobral comes out to Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", and it suddenly got cut off. Sobral wore an orange shirt to the cage, but it resembled a prison jumpsuit. How ironic. Music is restarted for him to enter the cage. David Heath's record is 9-1, and Sobral is 27-7.

Sobral looks good early. Long mount, lots of elbows - but eventually Heath gets on top. First round was very mixed, hard to call who won, 10-9 either way.

Babalu gets the takedown at the start of Round 2 and rains down terror. Heath is bleeding like crazy, has a big gash on his forehead. Lots of elbows and fists. Heath has nothing, but they haven't stopped the fight. Heath tries to stand and is caught in an anaconda choke. They really should have stopped it LONG before that. There's even a big puddle of blood on the Xenergy logo.

The choke-out is officially at 3:30 in Round 2. There are lots of boos for Sobral. He says Heath called him a motherfucker so he choked him out - tap or no tap. Sobral comes off like a big dick. I learned later via text message he was immediately docked half of his winner's purse - so being an asshole cost him $25,000. Not too smart.

Televised Matches (results only):

Patrick Cote vs. Kendall Grove

Patrick Cote wins by TKO at 4:45 in the 1st Round. Herb Dean stopped the fight.

Kurt Pellegrino vs. Joe Stevenson

After 3 rounds, Joe Daddy Stevenson wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27.)

Alberto Crane vs. Roger Huerta

Roger Huerta wins by TKO at 1:50 in the 3rd Round. Mazzagati stopped the fight.

Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St. Pierre

After 3 rounds, Georges St. Pierre wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). After the match, St. Pierre puts in a request to Dana White to have an event in Montreal.

Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (UFC Heavyweight Title)

During a takedown in Round 1, Gonzaga's nose appears to have been broken. It was bleeding profusely through at least half the round.

Early in Round 2, Gonzaga's nose starts bleeding profusely again. Couture is dripping with Gonzaga's blood. Gonzaga tells Herb Dean that he can't see, so Dean stops the fight for a brief moment. He then tells Gabriel that he needs to either fight or quit, so they restart the fight. Gonzaga loses a point for grabbing the cage. Randy continues to pound on him for the rest of the round. It's obvious that Gonzaga's nose is likely broken, and he may be having trouble breathing.

Round 3 starts the same as the others - with Couture totally dominating Gonzaga. Couture gets the takedown, and starts pounding the heck out of Gonzaga. Herb Dean stops the fight at 1:37 in Round 3, with Randy Couture retaining the Heavyweight Title. After the fight, Joe Rogan interviews Couture in the ring. He talks about how their heads knocked together during a move and that was what broke Gonzaga's nose. Joe Rogan tells Couture that it is always an honor to see him perform.

Date: 08/25	7:21 PM
Views: 3,958

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