Gleison Tibau vs Josh “The Dentist” Neer

Round 1:
Neer pressed forward right away, but Tibau tagged him with a hard left hook and viciously slammed him to the ground. Neer worked back to his feet and landed a hard kick to the body. He followed with a leg kick, but Tibau answered with another left hook and a huge takedown. Tibau tried to pass to side-control, but Neer defended and stood up. Tibau knocked Neer’s mouthpiece out with a left cross.

Tibau landed a left and took Neer down, but Neer pushed him off and got right back up. Neer landed a leg kick and Tibau countered with quick punches. Neer rushed forward with a body kick and a flurry, but Tibau answered with one of his own and scored another takedown. Neer stood up, but had to fight off a guillotine choke. Tibau landed three quick flurries before the bell. 10-9 Tibau.

Round 2:
Tibau scored another emphatic takedown early in the second round, but Neer got up. Another takedown followed, but Neer stood up again. Neer landed two right hooks and a stiff leg kick. Tibau took him down and managed to pass to mount. Neer rolled over and Tibau took his back. Tibau transitioned into an impressive armbar, but Neer escaped.

Neer landed two elbows from the top and the fight returned to the feet. Neer began to score with more punches as Tibau slowed down. Tibau took Neer down very briefly and Neer appeared to injure his shin while throwing a leg kick. He pressed forward and landed more punches and the fighters traded strikes against the cage. Very close round. 10-9 Tibau. Barely.

Round 3:
Tibau appeared fresher in the final round and landed a one-two, then scored a takedown. Neer prevented him from doing anything and the fighters traded combinations on the feet. Neer just missed with a huge looping right and managed to stuff a takedown. He stuffed another one and Tibau once again appeared to fatigue.

Neer threw lead hooks and continued to defend takedown attempts from Tibau, but Tibau was successful in taking the fight to the mat on his third try. He landed weak strikes from the top, but Neer worked to his feet. Time was briefly called to fix the tape on Neer’s glove. Action resumed and Tibau checked another leg kick as Neer winced. Tibau scored a takedown against the cage, but Neer rose and threw a head kick. Tibau took him down again as the fight came to an end. 10-9 Tibau.

Winner: Gleison Tibau by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 20-6-0.

Joe “Daddy” Stevenson vs Spencer “The King” Fisher

Round 1:
The fighters circled each other early on and exchanged leg kicks. Fisher connected with a counter combination that stopped Stevenson in his tracks. A left hook landed for Stevenson and Fisher immediately countered with a right. Fisher landed a body kick, but was already cut beside the right eye. Stevenson tried for a takedown and Fisher defended. Stevenson continued to try to take the fight to the mat, but could not.

The referee separated the fighters and Fisher landed leg kicks. Stevenson tried to clinch, but Fisher countered with a one-two. More kicks and punches landed for Fisher, but Stevenson clinched and dragged him to the mat. He punched the sides of Fisher’s head until the bell. 10-9 Stevenson.

Round 2:
Stevenson danced around early in the second round and Fisher scored with kicks to the body and lead leg. He followed with more kicks and a knee to the ribs, but Stevenson scored a takedown. Fisher elbowed from the bottom and Stevenson dropped down for a heel hook. He let it go and landed elbows, then briefly moved to mount. More elbows scored for Stevenson as he worked from half-guard.

Stevenson opened the cut beside Fisher’s right eye with well over a dozen short elbow strikes and kept Fisher pinned up against the cage. He moved to side-control and isolated Fisher’s arms. Stevenson absolutely teed off with elbows and the referee quickly stopped the fight as Fisher tapped out with his foot.

Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Elbows) at 4:03 of round two. He improves to 31-10-0.

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson vs Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida

Round 1:
Johnson connected with a four-punch combination early on and Yoshida tried to clinch. Johnson continued to land punches over the top and rocked Yoshida badly. Yoshida backed up to the cage and Johnson connected with a big overhand right that dropped him to the canvas. The fight was quickly stopped, giving Johnson a big win, but his dismal failure to make weight will not be forgotten.

Winner: Anthony Johnson by KO (Punch) at 0:41 of round one. He improves to 8-2-0.