LAS VEGAS, November 5 – Rashad Evans and Joe Stevenson came into The Ultimate Fighter reality series this season from vastly different places in terms of expectations. But at the end of tonight’s finale at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the underdog and the favorite finally had something in common: They were Ultimate Fighters.

In the heavyweight finale, Evans outpointed Brad Imes via split decision in a classic slugfest, and Stevenson also won via points, unanimously outscoring Luke Cummo to earn this season’s welterweight crown.

Both Evans and Stevenson took home six figure UFC contracts with their victories, as well as Toyota Scion automobiles.

When the 5-11, 224 pound Evans squared off against the 6-7, 250 pound Imes, many expected the height and weight disparity between the two to be too high of a mountain to climb for the former Michigan State wrestler. And early on, things went according to form, with Evans’ faster hands getting nullified by Imes’ Thai clinch and knees.But by late in the first round, Evans started finding a home for his left hooks, while just missing with a right hand finisher. It was an omen of things to come.

In the second, Imes again used his reach advantage to spear Evans from long range, and as fatigue started to become an issue for both fighters, the real fight began, with both fighters taking turns rocking each other with solid shots to the head.

“He caught me with a couple of good shots, but I kept my feet moving, kept going, and I worked through it,” said Evans.

The third round had the packed house on its feet, but Imes wasn’t so lucky when Evans finally connected with the left hook right hand combo, sending the Iowa resident crashing to the canvas. Evans pounced, but was unable to finish.

“I thought I could have been more patient when I had him stunned,” admitted Evans, who once standing again, left it all in the Octagon, as did Imes. So needless to say, when the scores for Evans 29-28 (twice) and 28-29 were announced, the Lansing resident may have had his hand raised, but there were truly no losers among the two heavyweights.

“I’m happy, excited, and privileged to be in the position I’m in,” said Evans, who admitted that he might move down to the light heavyweight division as to avoid facing 250 pounders every night.

Imes was gracious in defeat.

“I’ve gotten better since the show, but I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “That’s no excuse though because Rashad fought a helluva fight and he’s a great fighter.”

Ironically, on a day where WBC heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko withdrew from a November 12th fight with Hasim Rahman, Joe Stevenson entered his welterweight finale against Luke Cummo with a serious training injury that saw his clavicle torn from his sternum.

But he fought on…and he won.

“Joe pushed that out of his mind, went out there injured, and he did it,” said Stevenson’s coach Marc Laimon of the injury, which occurred two weeks ago.

Not only did Stevenson do it, but he did it in style, using his extensive ground game to pull ahead of Cummo in another bout that got the fans and fighters in attendance on their feet.

“That was Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, only on the ground,” said UFC President Dana White, referring to the season one finale that captivated the mixed martial arts world.

Stevenson appeared to be on his way to a rout early as he easily avoided Cummo’s strikes and took him to the mat almost immediately and dominated the ground action. But after that strong first round, perhaps Stevenson got a little too confident in the way things were going, admitting afterwards that “I took Luke lightly. I wasn’t ready for a war and he brought it.”

The war picked up in round two, as Cummo dropped Stevenson to the canvas with a right hand, only to fall back into the Las Vegan’s ground game. But this time, Cummo, a student of jiu-jitsu ace Matt Serra, began to handle himself better, escaping immediate danger and getting in licks of his own in retaliation.

Knowing that he needed a big third round to force an overtime round, Cummo came on fast again in the third round, but this time Stevenson’s control of the ground returned in earnest, and even though Cummo was game, there was no question of who the winner was when the 30-27, 29-28 (twice) scores were announced for the 25-year-old Stevenson, who began fighting professionally at the age of 16. As for Cummo, he has no regrets about his performance.

“Joe might have got the judges’ nod, but I knew if I performed to the best of my ability, I wouldn’t be a loser, and I don’t think I am.”

In the card’s main event, which aired on Spike TV, Diego Sanchez proved that he is a legitimate contender to the welterweight crown held by Matt Hughes as he scored a shutout three round decision over heated rival Nick Diaz.

Scores for ‘The Nightmare’ were 30-27 across the board.

“I believe I was in control the whole way,” said Sanchez, who is unbeaten in the UFC. “There’s no messing around for Diego Sanchez, I’m on my way to the top.”

Avoiding Diaz’ superior standup skills from the opening bell, Sanchez dominated the action on the ground with a mixture of well-placed strikes, frenetic grapples, and side control. Diaz, who never seemed to get into a rhythm in the bout, kept trying to lock in submissions on Sanchez, but ‘The Nightmare’ was too fast and slick.

In the second round, Diaz landed his only damaging strike of the night, a flush kick to the face fro
m the ground, but Sanchez quickly recovered and got back to business, which wasn’t pretty – but it was effective.

By round three, the heated turf war finally kicked into gear when both suffered cuts – Diaz to his forehead, Sanchez over his eye. And once the blood started flowing, the fists started flying with more desperation and the attempts by both men to finish increased. But by the end of the bout, Diaz’ inability to get his shots off before getting taken down proved to be his downfall. Not that he’s about to give his opponent credit.

“No, I don’t,” said Diaz when asked if he thought Sanchez belonged where he currently stands in the 170-pound division.

Sanchez, victory in hand, had a simple response.

“He can think what he wants.”

In the co-feature, Kenny Florian scored perhaps the most impressive victory of his mixed martial arts career, submitting Muay Thai champion Kit Cope with a rear naked choke at 37 seconds of the second round.

It was actually the second win of the night for Florian, who forced Cope to tap out to an armbar just as the horn ending the round sounded.

The win was a satisfying one for the classy Florian, who took some good natured trash talk from Cope leading up to the bout.

“I just want to concentrate on my opponent and the fight itself,” said Florian.

Early on, Florian showed a strong beard as he traded with Cope en route to clinching with his foe against the fence.

“It was my strategy to use strikes to get inside on him,” said the Jiu-Jitsu ace. “I try to mix it up.”

The strategy paid dividends late in the round as Cope tired from the consistent pressure and Florian took him to the mat. With 30 seconds left, Florian got into the mount position and then, as the clock ticked down, he transitioned into the armbar. Cope resisted and then tapped, but referee Herb Dean ruled that the round had ended before the tap.

But with his shoulder battered, Cope’s demise was inevitable, and even though he gamely fought back with his only remaining weapons – his feet – once Florian got inside and got the takedown, it was over.

In undercard action…

Welterweight Josh Burkman scored a frightening 21 second knockout of Sam Morgan, sending him to the canvas with a takedown that put the Minnesotan out almost immediately. A follow-up barrage then forced the stoppage, giving Burkman the win, even though he appeared to be shaken up by the ending.

“Our sport’s not about that,” said Burkman, who said he had no idea that the takedown put his opponent out. “I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

In another welterweight matchup, Melvin Guillard showed the explosive style that got him invited to The Ultimate Fighter reality series, thrashing a game Marcus Davis at 2:55 of the second round.

“I’m young, explosive, and I can strike,” said Guillard. “Kevin Randleman is my hero and tonight I fought like him.”

Flashing fast hands from the opening bell, Guillard nonetheless did his most damage on the ground, locking in a guillotine choke that almost ended the fight. The gritty Davis escaped though and fired back with strikes, only to be dumped to the mat again.

The second was all Guillard, and once he got Davis back to the mat, he started to rain elbows on his foe, cutting Davis over the left eye. Moments later, the bout was halted on advice from the ringside physician, giving Guillard his first UFC win.

“I’ve dreamed of this since I was 14, and now I’m living my dream,” said Guillard. “But the nerves were the same – a fight’s a fight.”

In the opener, Keith Jardine scored an impressive stoppage of Kerry Schall, using brutally effective leg kicks to send ‘The Meat Truck’ to defeat in the second round.

Opting to keep the fight standing, both fighters teed off on each other in the opening round, with Jardine’s superior speed and footwork keeping him on step ahead of Schall’s heavier hands. But by the end of the round it was Schall showing the scars of battle, with a bloody nose and a mouse under his left eye.

In the second stanza, Jardine kept trying to score with a 1-2 to the jaw, but it was to no avail on the steel-chinned Schall, who continuously moved forward, hoping to land the fight altering haymaker. But once Jardine started adding leg kicks to the mix, the fight was a wrap as Schall’s tender left knee gave way under the consistent attack.

Finally, after a series of shots to the leg, Schall fell to the canvas grasping his knee. The fight was then immediately stopped at the 3:28 mark by referee Jon Schorle. Schall, who was forced to leave The Ultimate Fighter series due to an injury to his left knee, was brought to a local hospital to have the knee looked at once again after tonight’s bout.

What? No Gracies? Lou Cummo sounds like a porn name.

The Las Vegas betting line has Luke in a TKO in < 105 seconds over the Bukkake Chicken.

I thought Diaz and Diego Sanchez put on a ground fighting clinic, I was also highly immpressed with Kenny Florian. I didn't expect it top be that good a fight.

I heard they cut out the really bloody undercard fights.

I still enjoyed seeing MMA for free on TV, even if I had to drive to see it (No cable over here)

Malachi

Dude, there are people in Bangladesh who have cable, where the fuck do you live?

The best way to see MMA is live for sure. Alot of the "Amateur Shows" are amateur only because the fighters aren't paid. Just making a name, and those fights are often better than what you see on the big 2 promotions.

I've seen Nick Diaz lose more times than I've seen him win, but I still enjoy watching him fight. He is a respectable ground technician.

I've fought in them as well, but obviously it depends on the show. But the ones up in WA and Oregon I've been to are top notch. Maybe it's just better seeing it live.

Lance, where do you train at? I train over at R1 with Frank Trigg.

I'm semi retired, (want to go again but we'll see)been moving around with the Military too, much. Mostly out of everett with Charlie Pearsons crew. My first fight was in Matt Hume's AMC gym.

Here is the entire card for Saturdays PPV.

Main Event
Rich Franklin Vs. Nate Quarry
Matt Hughes Vs. Joe Riggs

Undercard
Georges St. Pierre Vs. Sean Sherk
Jeremy Horn Vs. Trevor Prangley
Kevin Jordan Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Sam Hoger Vs. Jeff Newton
Nick Thompson Vs. Keith Wisniewski
Thiago Alves Vs. Ansar Chalangov

Should be a good PPV.

I haven't seen the last 3 or 4 UFC's, but what has happened to Chuck Lidell and Randy Couture. I know Lidell knocked out Couture in 52, but have they fought since?

No. Lidell is defending his title with some of the other contenders first. A rematch is probably in the near future. I guessing around March.

What fight is everyone most anticipating? Me I'm leaning towards to St.Pierre Fight, I wanna see him against hughes again.
Chico love the Avatar, Mirko Crocop is one of my all time Faves.

Im a Hughes fan, even after he beat Trigg. The guy is such a monster in the octogon, I dont see anyone beating him for awhile.

Crocop is the man. I'll be changing the avatar at the end of the month.

Here are the odds from Vegas.

UFC 56 Odds
..............................BOF..Pinna cle..MGM....Venetian..Sportsbook
Nate Quarry............+290....+368.....+270. ....+210.....+275
Rich Franklin............-400......-398.....-330.....-270......-350

Matt Hughes...........-365.....-380......-350.....-330......-350
Joe Riggs...............+285.....+350.....+2 75.....+250.....+275

Sean Sherk.............+240.....+272.....+105 .....+200.....+200
St. Pierre................-300.....-292......-125.....-250......-260

Jeremy Horn............-245.....-205.....-330.....-250......-225
Trevor Prangley.......+195.....+185.....+270... ..+200.....+185

Kevin Jordan............+250....+295.....-110.......N/A......+250
Gabriel Gonzaga.......-320.....-315......-110.......N/A......-325

Jeff Newton..............+195....+230.....-105.......N/A.....+200
Sam Hoger...............-245.....-250......-115.......N/A......-260

Nick Thompson.........+110.....+130.....-125.......N/A.....+115
Keith Wisniewski.......-140......-140.....+105.......N/A......-145

Thiago Alves.............+210.....+232.....+185 .......N/A.....+200
Ansar Chalangov.......-260......-242.....-170.......N/A......-260