UFC 191 — LIVE BLOG | MMA UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Las Vegas on Saturday night, with an 11-fight ticket for UFC 191 at MGM Grand. Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Chris Kudialis is blogging live from the arena.

MAIN CARD

9:50 p.m.

And now, "iiiiiit's tiiiiiiime," bellows UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, for the main event. Flyweight contender John "The Magician" Dodson enters the ring to "Children of the Night" by Kids Next Door, and champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson goes with T.I.'s "Go Get It."

Johnson has been the aggressor so far. He hasn't been connecting as much as he'd probably like, but he easily earns the first round.

More action in the second round as both champ and challenger connect on multiple punches and convert a takedown each. Dodson gets Johnson with a right to the face before the horn, earning him the second round. Johnson 19 - Dodson 19.

Johnson locks up Dodson early in the third round, sneaking in a few rights to his head. A kick to the face also connects in another back-and-forth round. Johnson is still making more quality connections than Dodson and attacking more than the challenger. Third round to Johnson.

A left from Johnson pins Dodson against the cage midway through the fourth round. Less action halfway through than the previous two rounds.

The horn sounds to end the fourth, Johnson takes a 39-37 lead. Barring a knockout this next round, the champ will hold on to his belt.

Johnson stays on the attack, fighting like he has something to prove in Round 5.

Body slam-style takedown by Johnson with just under 1:30 to go has temporarily turned the crowd's boos into cheers. The horn sounds as Johnson and Dodson both raise their hands to celebrate.

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson defends the men's flyweight title in a unanimous decision. Kudos to the champ, who dominated the match from wire to wire, and puts on his belt without a scratch or trace of blood on his face.

That'll do it for our online coverage from here at the MGM Grand. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time.

9:00 p.m.

Las Vegan Frank Mir brings the local crowd to its feet, enters the ring to Macklemore's "Make the Money."

His opponent, fourth-ranked heavyweight Andrei "Pit Bull" Arlovski, enters to Eminem's "Soldier."

The first round is about as tactical as possible between the two heavyweights. Very little action as Mir and Arlovski try to get a feel for the other's strategy. Mir controlled the tempo, locking Arlovski against the cage for most of the round. But Pit Bull gives Mir a knee to the face among a couple other glancing blows. I'm giving the round to Arlovski, but it could go either way.

A little more action in the second round, but the two 36-year-old fighters are putting up a tactical, underwhelming fight so far.

Both connected on a few blows in the second round, but Mir seems content with taunting and smiling at Arlovski instead of trying to knock him out. From a strategy standpoint, it has been all Mir. So he gets the nod for the second round.

Frank Mir is still fighting with his hands down to start the third round. After an official separates the two from an idle embrace for the third time, Mir lands a combo of punches to get the crowd back in the fight.

With two minutes left the round looks to be Mir's. But Arlovski responds with a combo of his own. They lock up again, are separated, and the crowd boos as the final horn sounds.

Unanimous decision win for Andrei Arlovski, who moved to 25-10. The crowd isn't sure what to make of the decision, but perhaps Mir gets what he deserves for fighting too conservatively.

8:25 p.m.

Top men's light heavyweight contender Anthony "Rumble" Johnson goes on the attack early against opponent Jimi "Poster Boy" Manuwa of England, connecting on a couple jabs to put Manuwa on the defensive.

Manuwa, the division's seventh-ranked contender, looked overmatched early on, but withstood a combo of punches and takedowns to drag out the first round. Some boos from the crowd as the two fighters tangle on the ground in a corner. First round goes to Johnson.

No such luck for Manuwa in the second round as Johnson blocks a Poster Boy kick and connects on a right haymaker to knock the Englishman down. Another Johnson haymaker to Manuwa's face and this fight is in the books.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson wins by knockout, improves to 20-5.

7:20 p.m.

Both sides come out swinging in the first round, with VanZant clearly winning the round. The fighters stayed on their feet for most of the opening five minutes, with VanZant knocking down Chambers twice. The round goes to VanZant.

The challenger looked winded to start the second round, and a couple second round kicks to the stomach and several knees to the face probably didn't help. VanZant kept Chambers headlocked for the second round. As the round ticked on, VanZant seemed to be on her way to an early victory, but Chambers hangs on to the horn. VanZant 20 - Chambers 18.

The third round doesn't last long. Just over a minute in, a VanZant takedown results an easy arm bar.

Paige VanZant, now 6-1, wins in a third-round arm bar submission.

UNDERCARD

6:10 p.m.

The men's bantamweight fight between Francisco Rivera and John Lineker was over in the blink of an eye. Just seconds after touching hands to open the fight, the 33-year-old Rivera and 25-year-old Lineker were exchanging haymakers. Lineker started the action, knocking Rivera backward with a right to the face, and taking a few shots in return.

With Rivera losing conciousness, Lineker put him away with a guillotine choke, winning by submission.

5:50 p.m.

In the women's bantamweight division, underdog Raquel Pennington withstood a barrage of second round punches from Brazil's Jessica Andrade to force the 23-year-old into a rear-naked choke submission.

Pennington, who turned 27 on Saturday, matched Andrade punch-for-punch in the opening round, but looked to be losing some gas in the second. After taking a right jab from Andrade to her face, Pennington grabbed Andrade, drove her into the ground, and after a brief struggle, completed the upset.

5:20 p.m.

Utah native "Cassius" Clay Collard's featherweight match against Tiago Trator was easily the most entertaining of the undercard.

After appearing to take the first round, the 22-year-old Collard knocked Trator down with a left jab, then the two proceeded to wrestle on the ground for an another two minutes to finish the round.

Trator, from Brazil, took the third round decisively. To the booing crowd's surprise, it was enough to win the fight in a split decision.

4:50 p.m.

Americans Joe Riggs and Ron Stallings followed in a back-and-forth middleweight slugfest that spent most of the first and second rounds on the ground.

Stallings, from Camp Springs, Maryland, started the first round in control, connecting on two early jabs. Riggs responded quickly, bringing Stallings to the ground and connecting before the end of the opening round.

Riggs took Stallings to the ground again to start the second round, and just like that, the fight was over. Riggs was disqualified for "kicking the head of a grounded opponent."

4:20 p.m.

Brazil's Joaquim Silva and Argentina's Nazareno Malegarie opened the undercard Saturday just after 4 p.m.

Silva won a hard-hitting, hotly contested fight in a split decision to move to 8-1 in the men's lightweight division.

Contact Chris Kudialis at 702-383-0283 or ckudialis@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj

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