Check out post fight interviews as well as highlights from the post fight press conference at UFC.com.
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Saturday nights main card saw five fights hit the airwaves on Spike TV from a helicopter hanger in Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas.
The headliner saw Melvin Guillard take on Evin Dunham as the +200 underdog in their lightweight match. The Greg Jackson fighter showed just how much he’s improved after joining the camp by stopping the fight in the first round at 2:58 by TKO. “The Young Assassin” was able to score with a combination of punches that would buckle Dunham, finally scoring with a couple of big knee strikes to the head catching his opponent on the way down to end the fight.
Matt Mitrione showed just how heavy his hands were by finishing Tim Hague in the first round. He was able to shake off Hague’s takedown attempts while scoring with his fists eventually catching his opponent with a straight left sending the Canadian to the mat. Mitrione quickly jumped in to finish forcing the ref to stop the fight at 2:59.
Mitrione noted after the fight that he “Wanted to be a 260 lbs Dominick Cruz.” He now moves to 4-0 in the UFC and his career.
Mark Hominick wasted no time in getting to his title shot with Jose Aldo at UFC 129. He faced a game George Roop who was simply overwhelmed in the opening salvo getting wobbled from Hominick before being put to the mat with a left. Hominick dropped a few more punches to Roop’s head while he stood overtop of his opponent but the referee quickly jumped in. Roop immediately protested the stoppage, but it was evident as he stumbled over to congratulate Hominick that he was visibly shaken, almost falling on top of the #1 featherweight contender.
Pat Barry pulled off the unanimous decision against Joey Beltran in a fight that failed to live up to the expectations of fans. Both men grinded it out for 15 minutes with the momentum going back and forth between them. Barry used some hard leg kicks to hurt Beltran throughout the fight but not enough to fully decrease his opponents game despite what announcer Joe Rogan was saying about the strikes. Up until the final minutes of the last round it was Barry who appeared to have taken the most damage to face, but in the remaining minute he unloaded on Beltran leaving him exhausted on the mat at the sound of the bell. Barry would earn scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 from the judges.
Matt Wiman looked very much like the better fighter than friend Cole Miller in the opening bout of the Spike TV broadcast. Wiman had the better striking standing and scored with several takedown attempts. He used the top position in all three rounds to reign down a solid ground-and-pound to earn the decision from the judges 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27. Wiman dedicated the win to his brother who is serving in Afghanistan, speaking about fighting in front of the amassed soldiers in Fort Hood.
“I was going through a lot of nerves before this fight. It was one of those things like with Thiago Tavares. It’s probably the most nervous I’ve been besides that night.”