UFC on Fox?s Three Stars: Nate Diaz, Alan Belcher and Lavar Johnson

The UFC's first two airings on Fox didn't quite live up to fans' expectations. Junior dos Santos' 64-second knockout of Cain Velasquez was almost too quick to appreciate, and the second Fox show featured lackluster decisions. The third try delivered, as the main card filled with exciting bouts and great finishes.

Here are Cagewriter's Three Stars from the weekend. Tell us yours in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

No. 1 star -- Nate Diaz: The younger Diaz brother stepped out of his brother Nick's shadow with a perfect performance ending in the first submission loss of Jim Miller's career, then made the classy move of supporting Miller's nephew's cause. His performance earned him a title shot and a $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus, and his nice gesture won him new fans.

No. 2 star -- Alan Belcher: Not only did Belcher TKO Rousimar Palhares, but he did it like a BAWSE. He jumped into the lion's mouth, daring Palhares to slap one of his trademark heel hooks on before transitioning out and using ground and pound to win. Unlike Diaz and Johny Hendricks, Belcher was not promised a title shot for his performance, but he showed he's ready for the elite of the middleweights.

No. 3 star -- Lavar Johnson: Putting Johnson's bout with Pat Barry first on the Fox card was smart, because it would have been shocking if these two didn't deliver with a knockout in the first round. Though Johnson pulled it off with just 22 seconds left in the round, he did put Barry out with a devastating barrage of strikes.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-three-stars-nate-diaz-alan-belcher-151556931.html

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

We gonna fight or we gonna flip? Brimage-Blanco fight ends with gymnastics

Editor's note: Jay Busbee is cageside for Cagewriter in Atlanta. Follow him on Twitter.

ATLANTA -If you're an MMA fighter, there's a right way and a wrong way to show exactly how athletic you are. Marcus Brimage and Maximo Blanco chose the wrong way.

Brimage and Blanco opened UFC 145 with a largely drama-free opening bout, 15 minutes in which the fighters logged more miles walked than punches landed. Brimage had trouble getting Blanco to the floor, and Blanco didn't stay down long once he got there. But between the final horn and the judges' verdict ? split decision in favor of Brimage ? the fighters began a curious little display that might not have had the effect they wanted.

[ Related: Travis Browne and Matt Brown highlight UFC 145 prelim card ]

As the horn sounded, Blanco raised his arms in a self-declared victory. With his crew filing into the ring, Brimage shook his head in disgust. And then Blanco ripped a page from the playbook of NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, who backflips off his car after every victory.

Blanco unleashed an array of back tucks, back handsprings and round-offs, and Brimage, with an "anything you can do, I can do better" smirk, matched Blanco's every move. It was a pretty damn impressive display of athleticism, except for the fact that the crowd had come here to see fighting, not synchronized tumbling. The boos rained down from an already-full Philips Arena; the crowd would have to wait another bout for its blood.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/gonna-fight-gonna-flip-brimage-blanco-fight-ends-001032044.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Antonio Silva to face Cain Velasquez at UFC 146

When Frank Mir was given a title shot at UFC 146 in place of Alistair Overeem, several dominoes started to fall in the UFC heavyweight division. Mir was supposed to face Cain Velasquez in Las Vegas on May 26. Since he's fighting Junior dos Santos, Velasquez will face Antonio "Big Foot" Silva, who will be making his UFC debut after a career in Strikeforce and Elite XC. Roy Nelson, who was supposed to fight Silva, is now opponent-less, but is expected to remain on the card.

Got that?

As it stands now, UFC 146 still has an all-heavyweight main card, but the UFC has to scramble to find an opponent for Nelson for a bout that is just 34 days away. Here are all the main card bouts:

Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir
Antonio Silva vs. Cain Velasquez
Roy Nelson vs. TBA
Shane Del Rosario vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve

[ UFC 145 video: Impromptu gymnastics competition breaks out inside Octagon ]

Do you plan on buying this card? Have the changes in bouts made you more or less likely to see it? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/antonio-silva-face-cain-velasquez-ufc-146-010643810.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Machida vs. Bader, Browne vs. Rothwell added to UFC on Fox 4

A pair of bouts has been added to the UFC's "UFC on Fox 4" card. In a light heavyweight clash, former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will face the former Sun Devil standout Ryan Bader. The second bout pits two fighters coming off big UFC 145 victories as heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell will go head to head.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/28384/machida-vs-bader-browne-vs-rothwell-added-to-ufc-on-fox-4/

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Ben Rothwell takes out Brendan Schaub early at UFC 145 (PHOTO)

As the picture above can tell you, Ben Rothwell knocked out Brendan Schaub at UFC 145 on Saturday night. His left hook sent Schaub sailing. Though Schaub fought back after getting knocked out, the picture proves that he was out.

After the bout, Rothwell made a heartfelt speech, thanking the fans for their support, thanking them for asking for autographs and offering words of support through his career.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ben-rothwell-takes-brendan-schaub-early-ufc-145-033536919.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Ricardo Almeida making UFC debut as a judge Saturday at UFC on Fox 3

Ricardo Almeida is set to make his UFC debut on Saturday -- as a judge. The UFC veteran trained to be an MMA judge after retiring a year ago. With the UFC headed to his home state of New Jersey for UFC on Fox 3, Almeida is getting his first shot at judging from Octagon-side.

Almeida told ESPN that he expects to be nervous for the fights.

"It will be pretty intense, but I will be on my toes with this UFC event, because I know all eyes are going to be on me," Almeida said. "Yeah, I'm going to be nervous. It'll be like I'm walking into a fight myself. But the spotlight only makes me want to be sharper and do a better job."

He made the decision to join the judges' ranks after ending his career on a controversial decision. With a BJJ background and 18 MMA bouts on his resume, Almeida brings a different perspective to MMA judging.

MMA is full of judging controversies, as fans, media and promoters often see a different result than the people charged with calling the winner of a fight. Most recently, Carlos Condit's win over Nick Diaz was called into question. Almeida hopes to help with that problem.

"There is always going to be controversy, but the more we can get guys who understand what's going on inside the Octagon, the results are going to be a little more consistent," Almeida said.

The lack of enough quality judges to keep up with the sport's growth is one of the biggest issues facing the sport. The problem is that MMA, in the form it exists today, has not been around for generations. In other sports, officials and judges have been involved with the sport since childhood, and have done their job at lower levels before moving up to officiate the pros.

In MMA, the judges quite often come from other disciplines. Though they have learned MMA, it's not the same as having it ingrained in your mind for most of your life, or even having a pro career for 11 years, as Almeida did.

Almeida's jump to the judges table is a good start for MMA. As more fighters retire from the sport, hopefully they'll follow his lead.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ricardo-almeida-making-ufc-debut-judge-saturday-195604314.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans make it official at UFC 145 weigh-ins (VIDEO)

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans got nose to nose as they faced off after they weighed in before their UFC 145 bout. Jones usually will look over the head of his opponent during a face-off, but looked Evans right in the eyes as Jones' brother, Baltimore Ravens player Arthur Jones, yelled. Both men were booed as they spoke briefly to the crowd.

The rest of the weigh-ins were uneventful. John Makdessi came in overweight and will pay 20 percent of his purse to Anthony Njokuani. Read on for complete results, thanks to the good people at MMA Junkie.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Champ Jon Jones (205) vs. Rashad Evans (204)
Rory MacDonald (169.5) vs. Che Mills (170)
Ben Rothwell (263) vs. Brendan Schaub (237)
Michael McDonald (135) vs. Miguel Torres (135.5)
Mark Hominick (145.5) vs. Eddie Yagin (144.5)
John Alessio (155.5) vs. Mark Bocek (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)

Travis Browne (250) vs. Chad Griggs (228)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Stephen Thompson (171)
John Makdessi (158) vs. Anthony Njokuani (156)
Mac Danzig (155) vs. Efrain Escudero (156)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Chris Clements (169) vs. Keith Wisniewski (170.5)
Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Marcus Brimage (145)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jon-jones-rashad-evans-official-ufc-145-weigh-205905928.html

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez