UFC 138 Results & Analysis

The Main Event of Leben VS Munoz ended from a TKO Corner Stoppage at the end of Round Two; the fight began with both fighters respecting each others hands, leading to the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion Munoz successfully shooting for takedowns at will, overall punishing Leben with his notorious "Donkey Kong Punches". The Season 1 Ultimate Fighter Leben came out with his traditional game plan, to inflict his will upon his opponent until the referee pulls them apart, from either his vicious left hook or his relentless ground and pound. However, Leben struggled with the wrestling background of Munoz and led to several vicious elbow's and punches which created a cut on the top of Leben's left eye in the second round, the punishment of the punches and elbow's left Leben's eye to be checked and cleared with the ring side doctor, 3:33minutes into the second round; referee Marc Goddard rightfully asked Leben whether or not he could see through his left eye, if not, the referee would have been forced to stop the fight. However, TUF Leben claimed he was ok. At the end of the round, he admitted to his corner his in fact he could not see therefore, the fight had to been stopped - Commentator Mike Goldberg rightfully said "Priority number one is the safety of our fighters." Mark Munoz extends his MMA record to 12-2 and moves closer towards a title shot against pound for pound champion, Anderson "The Spider" Sliva.

Co-Main Event Batamweight challengers Brad Pickett and Renan Barao deservedly won "Fight of The Night" bonus for a complete war with barrages of punches, leg kicks and knees; fan favourite Pickett tried to live up to his "One Punch" nickname with repeated over-the top right hands. However, with 3:20 minutes into the fight, the Brazilian landed a solid knee to Pickett's chin to drop him and led to Pickett giving his back due to ground and pound, undefeated BJJ Black Belt Barao spectacularly sunk two hooks in and finished the fight with a Rear Naked Choke on the chin of Pickett 4:09 into round one.

Main Card:

• Lightweight bout:  Terry Etim vs.  Eddie Faaloloto

Etim defeated Faaloloto via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:17 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Cyrille Diabaté vs.  Anthony Perish

Perosh defeated Diabaté via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:09 of round 2.

• Welterweight bout:  Thiago Alves vs.  Papy Abedi

Alves defeated Abedi via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:32 of round 1.

• Bantamweight bout:  Brad Pickett vs.  Renan Barão

Barão defeated Pickett via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:09 of round 1.

• Middleweight bout:  Chris Leben vs.  Mark Muñoz

     Muñoz defeated Leben via TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.

Prelimary Card:

• Bantamweight bout:  Chris Cariaso vs.  Vaughan Lee

Cariaso defeated Lee via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

• Welterweight bout:  Chris Cope vs.  Che Mills

Mills defeated Cope via TKO (knees and punches) at 0:40 of round 1.

• Featherweight bout:  Michihiro Omigawa vs.  Jason Young

Omigawa defeated Young via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Heavyweight bout:  Rob Broughton vs.  Philip De Fries

De Fries defeated Broughton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Welterweight bout:  John Maguire vs.  Justin Edwards

Maguire defeated Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses:

• Fight of the Night:  Brad Pickett vs.  Renan Barão
• Knockout of the Night:  Che Mills
• Submission of the Night:  Terry Etim