It became clear early that Evan Dunham and Shamar Bailey operate on two different levels.
Dunham, a former lightweight contender, took it to Bailey early, scoring time and time again with effective one-two shots.
Bailey attempted the takedown early, though the wrestler quickly abandoned grappling with Dunham when all of his efforts proved unsuccessful.
Dunham continued to pour on the punches, mixed in with kicks, over the course of the three round battle and even seemed to have Bailey’s number in the waning moments of the bout with a guillotine choke, though The Ultimate Fighter veteran survived to see the end of the match.
Dunham walked away the winner, though Shamar definitely took a moral victory in the process.
The win for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Dunham puts him back on track in his UFC career. After dropping a highly controversial split-decision to former champ Sean Sherk in September of last year, the Xtreme Couture product was upset by rising contender Melvin Guillard this past January, with a first-round TKO.
Dunham will now have the chance to climb back up the lightweight ladder, as he made obvious that his talents are destined elsewhere, proving that he belongs in the upper echelon of the division.
Bailey, meanwhile, may have secured his position in the UFC through sheer force of will against Dunham. Bailey ate upwards of a hundred shots on the feet; he took a licking but kept on ticking, plodding forward and never gave up his ground.
Shamar is a physical specimen at 155-pounds and will almost always be the bigger man in the cage, but if he doesn’t add some more effective strikes to his entire repertoire, he’s destined to suffer defeats at the hands of fighters who will be able to stuff his powerful takedowns.
by Bleacher Report’s Brian Lopez-Benchimol