Cageside Seats will be covering UFC 131 live tonight, bringing you results and play-by-play as the event takes place. The event is headlined by a heavyweight number one contender match between Junior dos Santos, and Shane Carwin. UFC 131 was supposed to feature the bout between JDS and Brock Lesnar following The Ultimate Fighter season 13, but Brock Lesnar was forced to withdraw with diverticulitis. The main card is listed below:
Junior dos Santos def. Shane Carwin via Unanimous Decision
Kenny Florian def. Diego Nunes via Unanimous Decision
Mark Munoz def. Demian Maia via Unanimous Decision
Dave Herman def. Jon Olav Einemo via TKO, Round 2
Donald Cerrone def. Vagner Rocha via Unanimous Decision
Join us tonight at 9 pm ET for live coverage, and play-by-play after the jump!
Vagner Rocha vs. Donald Cerrone:
Round 1 - Leg kicks coming from Cerrone for the first minute of the fight. At the four minute mark, Rocha gets a take down, Cerrone immediately looks for an omaplata, Rocha pulls back, Cerrone stands quickly. Cerrone goes through the round just picking Rocha apart with kicks, and avoiding take downs with ease. 10-9 Cerrone
Round 2 - Rocha's corner "Don't get kicked so much." Thanks for the advice guys. Cerrone looking to kick to the head, and returns to the legs. Rocha manages to snatch up Cerrone's ankles and trip him to the ground, but Cerrone stands right back up, they clinch against the fence. Cerrone escapes, and continues to stalk Rocha. More of the same for another two minutes. Cerrone practically clotheslines Rocha, follows him to the ground, but stands up after a little bit of ground work. Rocha falls on a take down, waves Cerrone into his guard, Cerrone shakes his finger no. Another sprawl at the end of the round, Rocha tries to pull guard, Cerrone just walks away. 10-9 Cerrone.
Round 3 - More of the same from Cerrone, although he did turn up the pace just a bit. Rocha attempted a few flying knees, but couldn't land well. Cerrone managed to damage Rocha's leg to the point where he switched stances to reduce damage to his leg. Rocha then practically ran to avoid damage, then launched another desperate take down attempt. With one minute left, Rocha looked like a complete amateur getting picked apart by Cerrone, credit him for toughness though. A three punch combo landed for Cerrone with 30 seconds left in the fight. Cerrone really turned it up with 15 seconds left, dropped Rocha, but couldn't finish. 10-9 Cerrone
Result: Donald Cerrone def. Vagner Rocha via Unanimous Decision
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman
Round 1 - Herman throwing knees early, avoids a take down in the clinch, fires more knees. Einemo working some strikes of his own, but eats a knee to the face in the clinch. Einemo continues to push, but leg kicks begin to slow him down. Knee to the jaw as Einemo leans down towards the legs. Herman remaining patient, pushing forward with a three punch combo. Einemo catches a kick, and secures a take down. Einemo passes to side control with relative ease. Herman uses the cage to spin himself to guard, and kicks Einemo away and stands! Very nice. Leg kicks from Herman. Knee in the MT clinch answer by Einemo, who pushes Herman to the cage. Dirty boxing from Einemo, uppercut lands flush. Einemo clinches, gets a take down, round ends. 10-9 Einemo
Round 2 - Pee Wee is on his bicycle early. They clinch, nothing of note lands. Einemo starts chasing, and lands a nasty combo of punches to the head, Herman gets out of dodge. Knee to the head in the clinch, Herman is running backwards. Herman stays out of trouble, lands a leg kick that brings down Einemo, he lands a few hammerfists and stands, Mouthpiece is returned to Herman, they trade, Herman gets rocked then DROPS Einemo! Herman looks to finish, but can't, he stands and Einemo stands. They begin to trade again. Herman pouring it on with knees int he clinch! More knees! Punches drop Einemo!!! Herman pounds him out!!! Whooooooo!!!
Result: Dave Herman def. Jon Olav Einemo via TKO, Round 2
Round 1 - Crazy round, I think we're in bizarro world. Something rocked Munoz early, bad, sent him on wobbly legs, and for the entire round, Munoz was outstruck. No idea what is up here. Munoz chases Maia down at the end, gets tagged again, and looks for a take down he can't get before the bell sounds. 10-9 Maia
Round 2 - Munoz comes out aggressive, misses a big right hand, and Maia shoots, Munoz defends, and starts pounding away on the body and thigh. They stand, and begin to trade again. Maia shoots, Munoz looks for a D'Arce, loses it and gives up the position, Munoz scrambles and escapes. On the exit, Munoz lands a big right hand. Maia shoots again, Munoz defends, winds up on top, Maia looking to bring Munoz into his guard. Munoz really rallying back after a first round scare. Munoz stands, and they fight in the clinch, Munoz taking down Maia now, looking to land a bomb from top position. Munoz digging to the body with shots. Stalemate at the 20 second mark, they stand, and the round comes to and end. 10-9 Munoz
Round 3 - Round starts with a hug. Really. Munoz looks for a head kick, which misses. Munoz ducks a whipping punch from Maia. Another missed head kick by Munoz, followed by a take down. They stand immediately, Munoz lands some punches as they get against the cage. Another take down, but Maia hits a switch, and gets to Munoz's back. Maia looking for a crucifix from the back. Maia looks for a neck crank, Munoz escapes, they stand against the cage. Damn this is a great card. Maia looking for a knee against the cage, but no dice. Munoz misses a trip, then starts to look for punches against the cage. They're separated, Munoz looking light on his feet, eats a left straight from Maia. Munoz runs in with some punches that miss, Maia looks for a take down, misses it, Munoz answers with one of his own and follows up with a big punch. They stand again, clinched against the fence. Munoz creates some distance, grazes Maia with an uppercut. They trade head kicks. Munoz pushes forward, Maia shoots, and it's defended. They trade punches at the 10 second mark, Munoz lands, and the final bell sounds. 10-9 Munoz
Result: Mark Munoz def. Demian Maia via Unanimous Decision
Not sure how one judge could possible score that first round for Munoz. What the hell is up with these judges tonight?
Round 1 - Florian attacking early as well as avoiding Nunes exciting spinning attacks. So far, Florian looks like money at featherweight. Kenny ducks a punch, and goes into the clinch, he looks for a take down, and eventually gets it, Nunes pops right back up. Nunes pushes Florian to the fence, looking to get some momentum going. Nunes gets a take down of his own, can't do anything with it, and eats some elbows to the side of the dome. More clinch work, then they separate. Florian stalking again, tries to catch a kick and follow up with a take down, but fails. Spinning back fist lands for Nunes, who then ducks a head kick. Nothing really significant has landed yet, but they're really going at it. Florian ducks under a punch and scores a quick take down, and begins to work from guard. Nunes escapes quickly, and they clinch against the cage. They circle away, Kenny avoids a spinning back fist. Nunes scores a knockdown at the end of the round. 10-9 Nunes
Round 2 - Kenny begins the round fighting his ass off for take downs, with 3:25 left, they stand in the clinch, Nunes now counters with a take down that lands. Kenny going to work quick. Misses a triangle choke. Florian has to make something happen. Nunes standing over him, tries to dive in with a punch, but no luck. Nunes stands again, this is letting time slip away for Florian. Ref stands them up. Where is that jab Florian. There it is. Kicks landing for Nunes. Florian eats a knee to the body. Florian finally gets a take down with 1:22 left. Florian works from half guard, and he's got to make this count. Florian peppering the body, and tries to pass to mount, but can't. Florian in guard now. Two big punches from Florian! Florian goes to work on the body, the round comes to an end with Kenny trying to land. 10-9 Florian, but it was wayyy close. 10-10 possible.
Round 3 - Florian looking perfectly fine stamina wise. Kenny chasing again, chopping leg kick. Kenny checking kicks. Head kick grazes for Florian. Nunes looking exhausted. Fake teep into straight left for Kenny. Easy take down for Florian against the cage, and he goes to the body right away. Nice elbow from guard for Florian. Florian passes to half guard, Nunes not mounting any real counter or defense. Elbows from Florian, Nunes gets him back in his guard. Florian starting to open up, moves to side control. Nunes rolls away, they stand and clinch. Kenny defending the take down, Nunes just looks beat up and tired at this point. Spinning back kick leads to a solid punch from Nunes, but Florian isn't phased. Florian with the jab, peppering Nunes as he comes in. Winging punches from Nunes. Florian shrugs of a clinch. More jabs from Kenny. Thai clinch and a knee for Florian. Dirty boxing form Florian, they separate, Nunes lands a bomb, and Kenny drops to a knee! Nunes rushes, but the round ends! Nunes is gritty, but 10-9 Florian
Result: Kenny Florian def. Diego Nunes via Unanimous Decision
Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin
Round 1 - To say JDS looks intense is an understatement. This is going to be nuts. Both men probing early, no one commiting yet. Carwin shoots for a single, they get to the cage, he switches to a double, having trouble. Carwin looking to work in the clinch now. JDS circles out, and steps away. Carwin lunging with a right hand. Pops JDS with one as he comes in. Stiff jab by Carwin, JDS glances with a right. JDS throwing in volume, Carwin lands a powerful right. Another left for Carwin as JDS comes on. JDS lands a jab. JDS comes in, Carwin lands a right. Carwin coming in with a looping left, misses. Carwin keeping his hands high, looks for a counter left hook. Carwing gets a single leg, but JDS is right back up. JDS with another stiff jab. JDS misses, Carwin firing back, but misses as well. More jabs from JDS, big right hand from JDS. Carwin looks a little flustered. Carwin gets dropped, JDS firing away, Carwin survives a severe beating!!! Carwin is busted up all to hell, but he's standing, and looks aware of his surroundings. 10-9 JDS.
Round 2 - Head kick misses by JDS early. Carwin looking surprisingly calm for a guy who just got pounded on. Big uppercut misses from JDS, Carwin answers. Trading jabs. Nice hook to the body from JDS. Big left hooks misses for Shane. Another left grazes JDS. Leg kick by Carwin. Another leg kick by Carwin, answered by JDS with one of his own. JDS looking for a right, Carwin answering. Carwin chases JDS down and lands a few big punches, JDS looks a little bothered. Right straight lands for Carwin. JDS goes back to the jab. More back and forth probing. JDS lands a big head kick, Carwin still standing though. More jabs from JDS, nasty body combo to end the round. 10-9 JDS
Round 3 - A bloodied Carwin battled to the end, eating jab after jab, but he couldn't counted. A take down out the gate didn't see any thing come from it, and JDS just ran away with the round. Jab, body shots, and two take downs. 10-9 JDS, for a clean sweep.
Result: Junior dos Santos def. Shane Carwin via Unanimous Decision.