Denny Burkholder

As we gear up for Saturday's landmark UFC 100 pay-per-view event, it's a convenient time to take stock of some of other UFC milestones.

In following this sport closely for years, I've amassed hours of video and recorded plenty of statistics. Most of the time, the stats I compile go into a series of Excel spreadsheets (yeah, I'm a geek) and never see the light of day in a column, unless a particular stat jumps out as relevant to whatever event I'm writing about that week. Just for fun, I thought I'd dig through the data and present some of it here.

The majority of this stuff is UFC trivia in the purest sense of the word. It's trivial. So don't take my inclusion (or exclusion) of any UFC statistic as an endorsement, indictment, or judgment of any kind. It's just trivia, for those who enjoy that sort of thing. You never know -- maybe you'll be able to win a few bets this weekend at your UFC 100 social gatherings by proving yourself the ultimate fountain of useless UFC information.

UFC Not-So-100

-- UFC 100 on July 11 will actually be the 133rd UFC event in history. The actual 100th UFC event in chronological order was UFC 78 on 11/17/2007, headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping in Newark, N.J.

-- UFC 100 is the 100th "numbered" UFC event only if you exclude those events denoted with a decimal, most notably UFC 37.5, which was a last-minute show thrown together to be featured on an episode of Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period on June 22, 2002. Other events such as the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 and 1996 are also sometimes referred to as a ".5" event.

-- UFC 100 isn't even the 100th UFC event to be broadcast on pay-per-view in the United States. It will be the 96th UFC PPV offering, since UFC 70, UFC 75, UFC 89 and UFC 95 all aired on free (cable) television in the United States.

-- The 33 UFC events that fall out of the traditional numbered, non-decimal event sequence are: Ultimate Ultimate 1995 (12/16/1995), Ultimate Ultimate 1996 (12/7/1996), Ultimate Japan 1 (12/21/1997), Ultimate Brazil (10/16/1998), UFC 37.5 (6/22/2002), The Final Chapter (10/10/2006), The Ultimate Fighter Finales 1-9, and Ultimate Fight Nights 1-18.

Chronological milestone fights

• 1: Gerard Gordeau def. Teila Tuli via TKO at 26 seconds, UFC 1 (11/12/1993).
• 50: Royce Gracie drew with Ken Shamrock, 36:00, UFC 5 (4/7/1995).
• 100: Don Frye def. Brian Johnston via submission, 4:38, UFC 10 (7/12/1996).
• 150: Maurice Smith def. Mark Coleman via unanimous decision, 21:00, UFC 14 (7/27/1997).
• 200: Tito Ortiz def. Guy Mezger via TKO, 9:55, UFC 19 (3/5/1999).
• 300: Tito Ortiz def. Elvis Sinosic via TKO, 3:32 of Round 1, UFC 32 (6/29/2001).
• 400: Karo Parisyan def. Dave Strasser via submission, 3:50 of Round 1, UFC 44 (9/26/2003).
• 500: Jonathan Goulet def. Jay Hieron via TKO, 1:05 of Round 3, UFC Fight Night 2 (10/3/2005).
• 600: Hermes Franca def. Joe Jordan via submission, 47 seconds of Round 3, UFC 61 (7/8/2006).
• 700: Mirko Cro Cop def. Eddie Sanchez via TKO, 4:33 of Round 1, UFC 67 (2/3/2007).
• 800: Marcus Davis def. Paul Taylor via submission, 4:14 of Round 1, UFC 75 (9/8/2007).
• 900: Marcus Aurelio def. Ryan Roberts via submission, 16 seconds of Round 1, UFC Fight Night 13 (4/2/2008).
• 1000: Jim Miller def. David Baron via submission, 3:19 of Round 3, UFC 89 (10/18/2008).
• 1100: Shane Nelson def. Aaron Riley via TKO, 44 seconds of Round 1, UFC 96 (3/7/2009).

Total fights

-- There have been 1,163 total UFC fights. There are 1,165 fight results that are considered "official," but two of those bouts never happened. In both cases, a winner was decided via forfeiture.

The two "fights" that never took place were Harold Howard vs. Royce Gracie at UFC 3, and Mark Coleman vs. Scott Ferrozzo at UFC 11. In both cases, the scheduled fight was decided via forfeit without ever starting because the losing fighters (Gracie and Ferrozzo) were unable to continue fighting due to damage and/or fatigue from earlier fights in a one-night tournament. The forfeitures are officially recorded as default wins for Howard and Coleman since, due to the tournament format, a winner had to be determined despite no fight taking place.

Of the 1,163 UFC fights that actually took place:

• 442 (38%) ended via KO or TKO.
• 365 (31%) ended via submission.
• 339 (29%) ended with a winner declared via decision.
• 88 (7.6%) ended in less than 1 minute.
• 447 (38.4%) happened in Las Vegas.

Winners, losers, and the lack thereof

• Most UFC wins | via KO/TKO | via submission | via decision

• 369 different men have won at least one UFC fight.
• 603 different men have lost at least one UFC fight.
• Only five fighters in history have fought in the UFC without earning a win or suffering a loss: Ron Faircloth (0-0-0, 1 NC), C.J. Fernandes (0-0-1), Bobby Hoffman (0-0-0, 1 NC), Mark David Robinson (0-0-0, 1 NC) and Alfonso Alcarez (0-0-1).
• The all-time record for most UFC losses is 10, held by David "Tank" Abbott. Chris "Lights Out" Lytle is in second place with 9 losses. Jeremy Horn is in third place with 7 losses, and six fighters (Chuck Liddell, Elvis Sinosic, Evan Tanner, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz) are tied with 6 losses apiece. Once you dig down to the fighters with 4 or 5 losses, the list gets very long.

This is perhaps the most misleading statistic of the bunch, because racking up a bunch of UFC losses requires sticking around in the UFC for a long enough period of time to accumulate them. For every guy with four or five UFC losses on his record, there are 10 worse fighters that only lost once or twice in the UFC before the company booted them. If a fighter had enough UFC longevity to lose at least five fights, he obviously had some quality about him -- fighting ability, untapped potential, fan appeal, marketability, or solid wins to balance out his losses -- to hang on to his UFC contract.

Tank Abbott put forth some dismal performances in his UFC losses and was far from a complete MMA fighter. But he was popular with viewers, so they kept bringing him back. The fights Abbott did win were often by spectacular, highlight-reel knockout (the Steve Nelmark KO in particular is burned into my memory forever), a fact which kept many fans coming back to see if Abbott could do it again, even if they were pretty sure he couldn't. Others despised him for his disrespectful behavior and his unkempt appearance, and tuned in because they wanted to see him get beaten. As the stats show, those fans often got what they paid for.

Lytle is simply a case of a solid midcard fighter who is good enough to decisively beat fighters on the lower end of the card and to put up a hell of a fight when he loses. Lytle doesn't win them all, but he's better than a lot of fighters with significantly fewer losses to their credit.

Horn and Shamrock are two cases of guys that have enjoyed lengthy careers and have also fought pretty stiff competition in comparison to some guys with prettier win-loss records. Horn's record includes losses to Chuck Liddell, Nate Marquardt and Frank Shamrock. Most fighters were never good enough to be considered for a fight with those guys, let alone given the chance to lose to them.

Shamrock was a top UFC star from virtually day one, and all of his losses were in high-profile fights. He lost to Tito Ortiz three times, and also lost to Dan Severn, Royce Gracie and Rich Franklin.

And the first shall be last

-- Most losses via KO or TKO: Five (three-way tie between Chuck Liddell, Evan Tanner and Randy Couture). Four fighters (Elvis Sinosic, Ken Shamrock, Marvin Eastman and Pete Sell) have lost UFC fights via KO/TKO four times each.

It's a shame that the three guys tied for most KO/TKO losses happen to be three bona fide UFC legends. It's also worth noting that Liddell -- who will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on Friday -- holds the all-time record for most UFC wins (10) via KO/TKO, and that two of his five KO losses were within the past year, after "The Iceman" had clearly begun to slow down. It's also notable that Liddell, Couture and Tanner have a combined 40 wins in the Octagon, so this statistic, while factually accurate, is hardly indicative of career success.

Snap or tap

-- Most losses via submission: Five (tie between Jeremy Horn and David "Tank" Abbott). Three fighters (Brian Johnston, Dan Severn, Pete Spratt) have lost four UFC fights via submission.

No contests

-- There are five "No Contest" fights in UFC's history. Three of those fights originally had winners:

• Marcus Silveira def. Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO in their first fight at Ultimate Japan I on 12/21/1997
• Bobby Hoffman def. Mark David Robinson via KO at 3:27 of Round 1 at UFC 30 on 2/23/2001
• Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim via split decision at UFC 94 on 1/31/2009

Silveira vs. Sakuraba was changed to a no contest after a replay convinced referee "Big" John McCarthy that he had erroneously ruled that Sakuraba was knocked out. Hoffman vs. Robinson was changed to a no contest after Hoffman failed an athletic commission drug test. Likewise, Parisyan vs. Kim was changed to a no contest after Parisyan tested positive for banned substances.

The other two "No Contests" are:

• Alessio Sakara vs. Ron Faircloth, NC, 10 seconds of Round 2, UFC 55, 10/7/2005 (unintentional kick to the groin by Faircloth rendered Sakara unable to continue).
• Gray Maynard vs. Rob Emerson, NC, 39 seconds of Round 2, TUF 5 Finale, 6/23/2007 (Maynard slammed Emerson, simultaneously knocking himself out while inflicting a rib injury to Emerson that caused him to tap out).

Draws

-- There have been eight fights in UFC history that resulted in a draw:

• Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock (UFC 5, 36:00)
• Oleg Taktarov vs. Ken Shamrock (UFC 7, 33:00)
• Jens Pulver vs. Alfonso Alcarez (UFC 22, 5:00, R2)
• Ron Waterman vs. Tim Lajcik (UFC 22, 5:00, R3)
• Brad Gumm vs. C.J. Fernandes (UFC 27, 5:00, R2)
• B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno (UFC 41, 5:00, R5)
• Ian Freeman vs. Vernon White (UFC 43, 5:00, R3)
• Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans (UFC 73, 5:00, R3)

-- UFC 22 is the only show in UFC history to feature more than one fight that ended in a draw.

-- 22 UFC title fights scheduled for five 5:00 rounds have gone to a decision. Out of those 22, only one resulted in a draw on judge's scorecards: B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno for the lightweight title at UFC 41 (2/28/2003).

Marathon men

-- In the days before the UFC began dividing fights into rounds, four fights lasted 30 minutes or longer with no breaks. All four happened in the span of just over one year, from the spring of 1995 to 1996. Ken Shamrock was in three of the four fights. Two of the four didn't even result in a winner. Dan Severn won the other two:

• Royce Gracie drew with Ken Shamrock, 36:00, UFC 5 (4/7/1995).
• Oleg Taktarov drew with Ken Shamrock, 33:00, UFC 7 (9/8/1995).
• Dan Severn defeated Oleg Taktarov via unanimous dec., 30:00, Ultimate Ultimate 1995 (12/16/1995).
• Dan Severn defeated Ken Shamrock via split dec., 30:00, UFC 9 (5/17/1996).

These are the only four fights in UFC history to exceed 25 minutes in length, making them the longest fights in the company's history. The current round structure allows for a maximum fight length of 25 minutes (for five-round title bouts only), so unless the rules change, these fights will likely hold on to their places as the longest ever.

Pattern behavior

• Most decisions in a single show: Seven (three-way tie between UFC 99, UFC 97, UFC 94).
• Most fights ending in KO/TKO in a single show: Eight (UFC 92).
• Most fights ending in a submission in a single show: 10 (UFC 2).

It's notable that there have been three shows in 2009 alone that share the record for most decisions on a single card.

It's also worth noting that the show with the most submissions -- UFC 2 -- happened way back on March 11, 1994, on a card that featured a whopping 15 total fights.

Like I said, these stats are trivial for the most part. They're fun to sort through and they can provide you with fodder for conversations with your MMA-watching friends, but otherwise, they're to be taken with a grain of salt.

Without watching the events and the fights in question, the statistics only tell part of the story.

Until then, I hope you all enjoy UFC 100 (or is it 133?) this weekend, and reflect well upon the hours of entertainment this promotion has given fans over the past 16 years.


7/8 UPDATE: A reader pointed out one "No Contest" fight that I didn't have listed (Hoffman vs. Robinson, which was originally a Hoffman win via KO). That has been corrected above, along with any statistic that would have been affected by the change. Thanks for the correction!

Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva ends the show. Franklin enters to "Rock Superstar" by Cypress Hill, which is a change from his usual "For Those About to Rock" by AC/DC.

Round 1: Franklin lands a left and dodges a counterpunch by Silva. Franklin with a straight left. Silva with a low kick, Franklin counters with a straight left. Silva misses on a big swing. Franklin with a body kick and Silva lands a countering right hand. Silva with a high kick attempt, and another. Franklin goes back to the body kicks and Silva catches his leg for a takedown. Very different type of fight from the typical Wanderlei Silva fare, so far. Franklin has full guard. Silva lands a couple food fists from the top. Franklin pushes off Wanderlei's hips with his feet and escapes. Franklin takes Silva to the mat and mounts. Franklin with strikes from the top as Silva scrambles. Silva gets to his feet and they separate. 10-9 Franklin.

Round 2: Silva with a body kick and Franklin counters with an overhand right. Silva throws a kick and Franklin counters with a left to the body and an overhand right. Leg kick by Franklin. Silva throws a big right and Franklin drops him with a jab, which may have been a slip. Wanderlei's right back up. They trade rights. Franklin with an uppercut. Franklin with a body kick, and Wanderlei catches the leg to throw a big countering right hand, but whiffs on it. Silva with a nice left-right combo that staggers Franklin, and now Silva is advancing forward. Franklin looks hurt. Silva hammers away with one-two combos. The round ends, and Franklin is sucking wind in the corner. 10-9 Silva based on being closer to finishing the fight than Franklin ever was.

Round 3: They're taking turns tagging each other. Missing on high kicks, connecting with most of their punches. Both look tired. Leg kick by Franklin catches Silva below the belt, but he shakes it off in a few seconds. Both guys swinging hard for the knockout. Silva with a knee and a body kick. Franklin with jabs. Crowd is getting behind Silva, and he looks suddenly inspired. I believe "hulking up" is the wrestling term. Franklin blocks a head kick. Franklin with a body kick with a minute left. Wanderlei's waving to the fans to cheer louder. Silva backs Franklin up to the fence and throws a flurry of strikes. Franklin takes him down. Silva kicks him away and stands, but Franklin holds him on a waist lock. Silva ends the round frantically throwing back elbows at Franklin while being held from behind. I'd give it to Silva 10-9, scoring the fight for Silva 29-28, but it was a good, close one.

Winner: Rich Franklin defeats Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision after three rounds.

The crowd is not happy with that decision.

Franklin said after the fight that he thought 195 pounds was the perfect weight class for him, if only it existed as a weight class. Until then, he'll stick with 205. He also felt a bit vindicated to win a decision in a close fight, since he still believes he should have gotten the nod against Dan Henderson.

As a reminder, we'll have video of the UFC 99 postfight press conference at the top of our Head to Head page, provided by the UFC, as soon as it is available. In the meantime, click any of the buttons at the top of the video player to check out the existing UFC 99 content.

Cain Velasquez faces the biggest test of his young career -- and a fight that could propel him into much bigger things, if he wins -- as he fights Cheick Kongo.

Velasquez's American Kickboxing Academy teammate Mike Swick is back out to help work his corner, shortly after winning his own fight.

Round 1: Velasquez closes the distance quickly and Kongo lands a few left jabs. Kongo rocks Velasquez with a right hand that drops him to a knee momentarily, then Velasquez takes Kongo down. Kongo trying to get up but Velasquez is keeping him down. Velasquez mounts him. Kongo rolls, and Velasquez takes his back for a rear naked choke. Kongo rolls out and gets to his feet. Velasquez tosses him back to the mat. Velasquez mounts him again. Fists to the face by Velasquez. Kongo on his knees with Velasquez hammering him with fists. Velasquez is just dominating the positioning here, exposing Kongo's wrestling weakness. Kongo's up -- Kongo's down again, and Cain lands in side control. Kongo gets to his knees and Velasquez uses a crossface neck crank to make him regret it. Kongo gets to his feet and lands a knee to the body as the round ends. 10-9 Velasquez.

Round 2: They exchange fists with Velasquez landing a few good shots, but once again, Kongo clips him on the chin with a right and Velasquez drops to a knee. Velasquez with a takedown attempt and eventually gets Kongo down. Velasquez with a series of right hands to the jaw and then a knee to the ribs. Kongo's just on his knees eating whatever strikes Velasquez can work in, because he's helpless against Velasquez's wrestling technique, and at this point, Kongo is also physically worn out from the energy needed to grapple for close to 10 minutes. Kongo's holding Velasquez's wrist, so Cain throws more knees to the ribs. The round ends with Velasquez doing this. 10-9 Velasquez, but you get the idea that one strike could end this for Kongo, if he can sneak it in before getting taken down.

Round 3: Kongo with a fist and then a takedown attempt. Kongo actually gets the takedown for a brief second, but Velasquez is so good that it's only a few seconds before Kongo's on his knees again, eating strikes. Velasquez is hammering away with fists from all angles. Kongo finally gets up and lands some knees from the clinch. Kongo with a right hand and rocks Velasquez one more time, and tries very hard to avoid the takedown that follows, but can't. Velasquez has Kongo in full mount. He's striking from the top. Kongo punching up from the bottom. Velasquez finishes the rounc with a flurry of shots from the top. 10-9 Velasquez again, so it should be a 30-27 win for the newcomer.


Winner: Cain Velasquez defeats Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds.

"It wasn't good enough for me, I know it wasn't good enough for my coaches," Velasquez said about his performance.

Kongo ate an unreal number of unanswered punches but never appeared on the verge of getting knocked out. That either says a lot about his skull, or reveals that Velasquez's punches aren't as heavy as once thought. Perhaps both. Either way, you have to wonder what a guy like Brock Lesnar -- who can match Velasquez's wrestling -- would have done if he'd landed the same right hands to Velasquez's chin that Kongo did. I'm sure we'll see that fight someday.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic returns to the UFC, fighting Mustapha Al-Turk.

Al-Turk is entering the arena right now to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. And Cro Cop, of course, comes out to "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran.

Round 1: Cro Cop gets a very nice response from the fans in Germany, many of whom may have traveled from Croatia to see the fight. Al-Turk with a nice overhand right backs Cro Cop up a little. Leg kick by Al-Turk. He goes for a takedown and Cro Cop shakes it off. Leg kick by Al-Turk, and he misses with another big right. Cro Cop with a straight left. Al-Turk is going for the overhand right way too much, telegraphing it badly. Cro Cop with a left jab. Al-Turk throws another wild overhand right and misses again. Cro Cop hurts him with a left hand and moves forward with a barrage of fists. Al-Turk goes down, but he's not out. Cro Cop lets him stand up. Al-Turk misses another swing and Cro Cop finishes him off with more fists. Nice return win for Cro Cop.

The replay shows that on one of the punches Cro Cop threw, his fingers caught Al-Turk in the right eye. He immediately covered his face with his hands after the eye poke, but the referee didn't see it. Still, Al-Turk wasn't doing much to suggest the fight would have ended any differently without the errant eye injury.

Winner: Mirko Cro Cop defeats Mustapha Al-Turk via TKO due to strikes at 3:06 of Round 1.

Up next is Saunders vs. Swick at welterweight.

Round 1: Swick with a takedown. Swick presses him against the cage but Saunders is keeping him from posturing up to land strikes. Swick sneaks in a few left hands. Saunders is still holding Swick to keep him from striking. The microphones catch Swick asking Saunders if he's going to hold him all night, and Saunders says "stand back up, bitch." Nice. Swick still working to strike on the ground. Saunders with butterfly guard. The referee finally separates them. Saunders with a left kick to the ribs. They exchange combinations of punches. Saunders with a body lock against the fence. Saunders lands a nice standing knee to Swick's head from the clinch. Saunders working knees to the body as Swick reverses him against the fence. Close first round, but I'd probably give it to Saunders 10-9.

Round 2: Saunders throws a knee, Swick takes him down and moves to mount. Saunders takes guard and we're right back where we were in Round 1. Swick's getting some strikes in from the top. Saunders with a body triangle. Swick with a few rights to the head. Referee stands them up again. Saunders with a leg kick and Swick answers with a combo. Swick with knees to the body. Saunders misses a front kick. Saunders with a leg kick and Swick counters with an overhand right. Saunders throws another leg kick and Swick counters with fists. Saunders is hurt, and Swick attacks with a flurry of hands until Saunders falls to his knees, and the referee stops it. It was a trio of rights to the jaw that appear to have done Saunders in.

Winner: Mike Swick defeats Ben Saunders via TKO due to strikes at 3:47 of Round 2.

Still pouring outside, but it appears our feed is back: Spencer Fisher vs. Caol Uno is nearing the end of Round 2. Fisher finishes the round on top of Uno on the canvas trying to work him over, but Uno fights to his feet as the buzzer goes off. I won't score the round because I didn't see the whole thing.

In Round 1, apparently not much happened except for some standup, and Uno getting stuffed on takedown attempts.

Round 3 coming up...

Round 3: Fisher with a huge right hook but Uno just eats it and moves forward. Uno grabs the leg, still trying to get Fisher to the mat. Uno's got Fisher by the ankle, sitting with his back to the cage. Uno switches to a body lock, and Fisher gets to his feet. Uno with some token strikes to look busy. Referee Mario Yamasaki threatens to separate them, and a few seconds later, he does. Uno with a leg kick and he falls down. Fisher says no thanks, let's stand. Fisher with a right hook followed by a left. Uno goes to the ground. Fisher moves to side control, which prompts Uno to get back to his feet. Uno puts Fisher against the cage again with underhooks. Fisher with Muai Thai knees and a right hand. Uno with a takedown. Uno mounts him and hooks one leg, then throws some elbows from the top. Uno with full mount. Hammerfists by Uno. The buzzer goes off. Uno took that round with his dominance at the end. 10-9 Uno.

Winner: Spencer Fisher defeats Caol Uno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds.

I have to apologize, but we just (temporarily) lost our satellite feed for UFC 99. The outage may only last a few minutes (10 minutes is about average this time of year), so hopefully we won't miss anything major. But for now, we're without our satellite feed. I'll update again when it's back, which will hopefully be within a few minutes.

Sorry again, but mother nature is apparently not a big UFC fan. It's a bit stormy outside. Or maybe she just disagreed with the Hardy vs. Davis decision.

Up first is "The Irish Hand Grenade" Marcus Davis vs. "The Outlaw" Dan Hardy at welterweight. These guys aren't best buds. Hardy calls Davis a fake Irishman working a gimmick, and Davis says it's hypocritical for a dude with a multi-colored mohawk to criticize someone for gimmickry.

Let the fireworks begin.

Round 1: Davis with a body punch and a takedown attempt. He's got him bodylocked against the cage and is working left hands to the body and face, finally getting Hardy to the mat. Davis passes from half guard to full mount almost immediately and gets some ground and pound. Hardy struggles back into half guard. Davis passes guard and Hardy gives up his back. Davis controlling the arms, but doesn't have hooks in. Davis with a few right hands to the head and then he goes for a rear naked choke. Hardy finally gets back to his feet and now he's got Davis against the cage. Hardy mounts some offense, rocking Davis with an elbow and opening a cut. Round ends, and I'd give it to Davis 10-9.

Round 2: Both fighters looking for kicks. Davis throws a knee that misses. Davis with a left hand, Hardy blocks. They're trading fists now. Nice exchange with both guys landing some. Hardy catches Davis with a big knee and Davis is down. Hardy rushes in to finish with strikes, but Davis recovers enough to take full guard. Davis working for wrist control, and then he attempts an armbar. Hardy escapes the hold. Hardy lands some ground and pound but is having trouble posturing up since Davis is still threatening from his back. Davis with an elbow from the bottom. The referee stands them up. Davis with double underhooks, but can't get a takedown. Davis with a kick, then a left hand. Davis with a takedown. Davis passes to side control and does ground and pound to end the round. 10-9 Hardy based on the big knee that rocked Davis, although Davis certainly did well the rest of the round.

Round 3: Davis takes Hardy down immediately and works body punches from full guard. Davis is winning this fight every time it hits the canvas, so if he can stay busy there for a full round he could earn a decision. Davis working ground and pound, then he takes a foot lock. Hardy fights to escape it, and Davis switches to a heel hook. Hardy escapes to his feet and Davis clinches him against the fence. Hardy reverses Davis on the fence and gets a takedown of his own. Hardy with an elbow from the top. A series of right hands to Davis' face, and the ref separates them to check a cut on Davis' face. He's cut badly on the bridge of his nose. He's OK to fight, so the resume the battle. Hardy working hammerfists from the top. Referee stands them up again, and Davis's face is wrecked. Hardy with an inside leg kick. Hardy with a body kick and left hook. Davis tries for a takedown but the buzzer goes off. Great fight, but I give the last round to Hardy 10-9, and the decision to Hardy, 29-28. We'll see if the judges agree.

Winner: Dan Hardy defeats Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) after three rounds.

We'll have round-by-round coverage of each of the UFC 99 main card bouts in a few minutes. In the meantime, here's what happened on the undercard (caution -- some of these fights could air on the broadcast if time permits, so if you're avoiding spoilers, don't read any further):

• Terry Etim defeated Justin Buchholz via submission to a d'arce choke in Round 2.
• Dennis Siver defeated Dale Hartt via submission to a rear naked choke in Round 1.
• Paul Taylor defeated Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision after three rounds.
• Paul Kelly defeated Roli Delgado via unanimous decision after three rounds.
• Stefan Struve defeated Denis Stojnic via submission to a rear naked choke in Round 2.
• John Hathaway defeated Rick Story via unanimous decision after three rounds.

We'll have the first main card bout shortly after 3 p.m.

As we get closer to the start of UFC 99, I want to direct your attention to a new feature we have available, courtesy of the UFC.

If you visit our UFC 99 Head to Head preview , you'll notice a UFC video player in the top right corner. There, you can view the UFC 99 weigh-ins, prefight press conference, along with numerous other UFC 99 related videos. Simply choose the video you want to watch by clicking the icons at the top of the video player, kick back, and enjoy.

Also, for the first time, you will be able to catch live video of the UFC 99 postfight press conference right here on CBSSports.com by visiting the Head to Head page after the event is over.

I'll be back in a little while with the UFC 99 live blog as the action begins in Cologne, Germany.

UFC 99 takes place on Saturday in Cologne, Germany. Due to the time difference, fans in the U.S. and Canada will have the chance to see the show live on PPV beginning at 3 p.m. ET, rather than the usual 10 p.m. ET (although a replay will air at the usual time for those who prefer to see the show at night).

CBSSports.com will have a live blog of UFC 99 as it happens, beginning at roughly 2:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. That's early warning for those of you who want to follow the results of each round as it happens, and also fair warning for anyone planning to order the show Saturday night. There will most definitely be spoilers on CBSSports.com Saturday afternoon.

Everybody made weight for the event, so all 12 fights are set for Saturday. Come on back to this blog for full coverage.

The main event is up next, as Robbie Lawler fights Jake Shields at a catchweight of 182 pounds.

Round 1: Shields with kicks, Lawler's throwing leather, and Shields goes for a single leg takedown. Lawler stuffs it and punches to the body as they break. Shields went low for another takedown and almost ate a big knee. Shields with a body kick. And another. Shields looks like a guy who just realized he can't take his opponent down and is trying to come up with plan B. And he does it: Lawler throws punches, Shields grabs him, takes a standing guillotine, throws his legs around Lawler and taps him out quickly.

Winner: Jake Shields defeats Robbie Lawler via submission to a guillotine choke at 2:02 of Round 1.

Lawler tried to stand and power his way out the back door to escape the choke, but it was too tight, and he only made his situation worse by doing that.

Shields says he'll take whatever they give him for his next fight, but he mentions Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le as the one specific fight he'd want to take. Really, Shields' win over Lawler puts the Strikeforce middleweight and welterweight scenes in an interesting position.

Cung Le has the middleweight belt, but he hasn't fought in over a year and his loyalties seem divided between MMA and movies. Clearly, Shields wants Le because it would be a title shot against a main-event opponent, but there could be another motivator at work here: Nick Diaz.

Shields and Diaz are friends and training partners, and a lot of times, that means they won't fight each other unless it's totally unavoidable. It remains to be seen whether Shields would fight Diaz under the right circumstances, but it's safe to assume they'd both like to avoid it if at all possible.

What's trickier is the fact that Shields and Diaz -- who (aside from Diaz's stint as a 160-pound "lightweight" in EliteXC) are typically welterweights, a division for which Strikeforce doesn't currently have a champion -- both won their fights on Saturday against middleweight opponents, at a catch weight much closer to the middleweight threshold than the welterweight limit. Which means that not only are they arguably the two best welterweights in Strikeforce right now, but they also belong in the conversation among the best middleweights.

By mentioning a possible title fight with Cung Le, Shields is basically putting himself in the middleweight title picture. Which could be because there's no welterweight title belt right now. Or it could be that he understands Le is the highest-profile opponent he can get. Or maybe he realizes that a return to welterweight means an inevitable clash with Diaz.

One thing's for sure: Lawler and Scott Smith have just been written out of the title picture in their own weight class by a pair of 170-pounders, and it's now much harder to map out the future match-making path of Strikeforce. If the goal of these catchweight fights was to create more options down the road, then they succeeded.

Here come the big boys: Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski tries to put a blemish on Brett Rogers' undefeated record.

Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. plugs the Affliction: Trilogy PPV and lists the major fights, before announcing the fighters. Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett are in attendance in St. Louis.

Round 1: WOW. Rogers counters an Arlovski leg kick with a right-left combo, and the left hand sends Arlovski packing. Rogers rushes in and another left hand puts Arlovski on the canvas as Big John McCarthy quickly stops the bout. Unbelievable. Arlovski may want to reconsider that pro boxing career.

Winner: Brett Rogers defeats Andrei Arlovski via KO at 22 seconds of Round 1.

"That's what happens when you work hard," Rogers said.

That last left hand stunned Arlovski, but on the replay, you could see that he took a hard left-right-left sequence without blocking any of the three.

Next up is Nick Diaz vs. Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith.

Round 1: Diaz is already putting his hands high and asking Smith to bring it. Smith with a straight right. Diaz with a combination. Diaz ties up his arms and Smith decks him with an overhand right on the separation. Smith with a left hook as Diaz stuck out his chin and asked for a punch. He may want to cut that out, but I'll bet he doesn't. Diaz with a variety of strikes and combinations, landing a large amount of them. Diaz lands a head kick for good measure. Smith looks confused by Diaz's style. Smith with a heavy right hand that Diaz takes with no problem. Smith lunges in for a right and connects, but Diaz lands a left at the same time and does more damage as Smith backs up to the cage. Diaz eats another right hand. Smith clinches Diaz against the cage. Diaz turns away from it and tries to work for a kimura. Smith's landing more combinations now. Smith with a nice inside leg kick. Smith is now the aggressor and he's landing a lot, but Diaz is still finding the mark with his own shots as the round ends. Diaz 10-9, but you really can't count Smith out, especially with an opponent willing to keep it standing... and willing to stick his chin out.

Round 2: Diaz with long jabs. Smith ties him up and Diaz turns his back to him again. Smith decks him with a hard right on the break. Diaz hurts Smith with a left to the ribs and hammers away with body and head shots. Smith gets off the cage and throws a few back, but he's hurt. They're both tagging each other with freebies trying to end it. Both look a little arm-weary, but with Diaz it's hard to tell. Diaz lands every shot he throws. Smith only lands some, but they look much heavier. Smith's got no head movement at all and is almost immobile, so Diaz is tagging him with everything. But Smith doesn't look finished, yet. He's hurt, but not punch-drunk. Smith misses a Superman punch and a kick. Diaz answers with fists. Another punch to the ribs drops Smith to the mat, but the round ends before Smith is finished. 10-9 Diaz again. I wonder if Smith will make it off his stool for Round 3.

Round 3: They duke it out, and Smith's got more left in his tank. Diaz gets him to the canvas and takes his back. Diaz puts the hooks in and taps Smith out with a bar arm choke.

Winner: Nick Diaz defeats Scott Smith via submission to a bar arm choke at 1:41 of Round 3.

One of the most anticipated MMA fights of the past year is finally signed and scheduled.

On Showtime Saturday night, they officially announced Gina Carano vs. Cris "Cyborg" Santos for Strikeforce's Aug. 15 event, to be broadcast on Showtime.

Also signed for that event: The long-awaited rematch for the Strikeforce lightweight title, as champion Josh Thomson battles former champ Gilbert Melendez .

It will be very interesting to see what kind of ratings Carano vs. Cyborg pulls in, and also to see what kind of fighting shape Carano is in after a 10-month layoff.

In addition, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was announced as fighting on the 8/15 show with no opponent named at this time. His opponent may depend on the result of Arlovski vs. Rogers, and how banged up the winner of that fight is.

UPDATE: Brett Rogers knocked out Andrei Arlovski in 22 seconds, and didn't appear to have a scratch on him afterward.