The Ultimate Fighting Championship comes to the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona tonight for UFC on FOX 13: “Dos Santos vs Miocic.” The event is headlined by a five-round heavyweight showdown between former UFC champion Junior “Cigano” dos Santos and rising star Stipe Miocic.

Also on tonight’s card, Rafael dos Anjos squares off against an overweight Nate Diaz in what was intended to be a lightweight fight. Former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem battles Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve in featured heavyweight action. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

Junior “Cigano” dos Santos vs Stipe Miocic

Round 1:
Dos Santos connected first with a right hook and Miocic clinched against the cage. Dos Santos landed a knee and circled away from the clinch. Miocic tripped him and landed three right hooks on the way up. Dos Santos lunged in with a left hook and Miocic responded with a right hand that forced dos Santos to retreat. More right hooks landed for Miocic and dos Santos fired back with an uppercut. A right hook stunned dos Santos again and the fighters clinched briefly. Dos Santos finished the round with three left hooks. 10-9 Miocic.

Round 2:
Dos Santos stuffed a takedown in round two and he landed hammerfists to the side of Miocic’s head. A big right hook landed for Miocic just as dos Santos connected with a left. Dos Santos bled more heavily from a cut beside his right eye and he missed badly with a haymaker right. Miocic closed the distance and landed short right hands. Dos Santos countered with a left hook and he began to target the body. Miocic wobbled dos Santos with three powerful hooks and he clinched again. Miocic took dos Santos down and landed punches as a bloodied dos Santos stood up. 10-9 Miocic.

Round 3:
Miocic shot in for a takedown in round three, but dos Santos defended and briefly took his back. The fighters stood and dos Santos missed with a wild uppercut. Right and left hooks scored to the body for dos Santos and he dropped Miocic with a counter left hand. Miocic began to bleed heavily from the mouth, but he recovered and pressed forward again. Dos Santos avoided a takedown attempt and he landed a winging right hand. Miocic chased dos Santos with punches, but dos Santos countered with more right hooks. 10-9 dos Santos.

Round 4:
Time was called early in round four after dos Santos was kicked in the groin. Action continued and Miocic tripped dos Santos for a split second. Dos Santos stood and he scored with one-twos and single right hands. A series of jabs landed for dos Santos, but Miocic backed him up with a combination. He hurt dos Santos with right hooks, but dos Santos recovered and answered with a right of his own. He used an impressive leg-sweep takedown to trip Miocic to the mat and struck from the top. Miocic escaped to his feet and dos Santos flurried with punches. Close round. 10-9 dos Santos, barely.

Round 5:
Dos Santos punched to the body early in round five and he followed with an overhand right. A combination landed for dos Santos and he fought off a takedown attempt. The fighters exchanged right hands and dos Santos targeted the body again. A big one-two landed for dos Santos, but Miocic continued to move forward. He landed a right hook and a flurry of punches. Big shots were exchanged in the final minute and Miocic hurt dos Santos. He pressed the action with punches until the final bell. Excellent fight. 10-9 dos Santos by the slimmest of margins.

Winner: Junior dos Santos by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) after five rounds. He improves to 17-3-0.

Rafael dos Anjos vs Nate Diaz

Round 1:
Dos Anjos repeatedly scored with leg kicks early on and the fighters exchanged one-two combinations. More hard leg kicks scored for dos Anjos and Diaz began to limp slightly. He landed punches, but dos Anjos hurt him with chopping leg kicks. He easily threw Diaz to the ground and tried to move to mount. Diaz scrambled and rolled for a leglock as dos Anjos blasted him with punches. Dos Anjos escaped into side control and landed elbows and punches until the bell. 10-8 dos Anjos.

Round 2:
The second round began with more stinging leg kicks from dos Anjos that left Diaz in visible pain. He cracked Diaz with two left hands and took him down into half-guard. Diaz began to bleed from beside the right eye and dos Anjos landed more elbows. Diaz tried to stand up and dos Anjos punished him with right hands. The fighters stood and dos Anjos kicked at Diaz’s lead leg. Time was called to check on Diaz’s damaged eye, but action resumed and dos Anjos hurt him again with leg kicks. A jumping switch kick knocked Diaz down and dos Anjos punched until the bell. 10-8 dos Anjos.

Round 3:
Dos Anjos landed a leg kick and a head kick in round three, and he took Diaz down seconds later. Dos Anjos scored with elbows and punches from the top and he passed to half-guard. Diaz scrambled and tried to sweep, but dos Anjos kept him pinned down. From the top, dos Anjos landed punches and elbows that re-opened the cut near Diaz’s right eye. He continued to score with ground and pound from Diaz’s half-guard until the end of the fight. 10-9 dos Anjos.

Winner: Rafael dos Anjos by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 23-7-0.

Alistair Overeem vs Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve

Round 1:
Overeem clinched and landed knees to the body in the opening minute. Struve broke away and answered with a body kick. Overeem took him down and landed right hands from the top. Struve kicked him off, but Overeem dove back into his guard. Struve kicked him back again, but Overeem stood over Struve and dropped a series of right hands until Struve was unconscious.

Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO (Punches) at 4:13 of round one. He improves to 38-14-0, 1 NC.

Matt Mitrione vs Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga

Round 1:
Both fighters landed right hooks in the opening minute and Mitrione stepped in with an elbow to the jaw. He dropped Gonzaga with a counter one-two and a dazed Gonzaga tried to recover. He fell face-first to the mat and Mitrione continued to land punches until the fight was stopped.

Winner: Matt Mitrione by TKO (Punches) at 1:59 of round one. He improves to 9-3-0.

(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)