Decent night of fights, another main card without a knockout but at least there was one on the under card that got Brian Foster a bonus.

UFC Fight Night 22 $40,000 post-fight bonuses:

Submission of the Night: Cole Miller
Submission of the Night: Charles Oliveira
Knockout of the Night: Brian Foster
Fight of the Night: Jared Hamman and Kyle Kingsbury

Shows what I know about the new lightweight Brazilian on the block, Charles ‘do Bronx’ Oliviera frustrated TUF winner Efrain Escudero on the feet and threatened off his back whenever Escudero actually completed a takedown.

It was a fairly one sided fight thanks to Oliviera’s wild and colorful strikes coupled with sound counterstrike defense. As the fight entered the final frame Efrain was clearly down two rounds, both fighters scored shots below the belt, but the knee that rattled Oliviera seemed to wake him up and put him on the offensive.

Talk about using your environment.

Soon after this takedown and subsequent scramble the young Brazilian jumped into back mount and sunk in standing rear naked choke that Escudero had to try and defend with one arm, since the other was trapped under a leg. A riveting end to a career defining bout for a 20 year old who has 2 submission bonuses with his two octagon victories.

The other spectacular RNC finish of an Ultimate Fighter winner (and my second bad pick of the night) came from Cole Miller who used his range to pepper Ross Pearson keeping the British striker at bay. But it was the second round that had a more confident Miller go toe to toe and stun Pearson with a left hook and sinking in his hooks before he could recover or defend. Miller also picks up his second consecutive SOTN award.

The two fights I did call correctly were odd in that I was surprised to actually see Jim Millers superior striking visibly rattle lightweight juggernaut Gleison Tibau. While Miller was taken down from time to time, he was rarely in danger thanks to his offensive guard that made Tibau retreat back to the stand up portion of the fight rather than deal with fighting off submissions. Miller kept up the pressure and took a unanimous decision win and put himself back in the title picture.

In the bittersweet main event Nate Marquardt made short work of Rousimar Palhares, due to a bizarre lapse in judgment more than anything else. The first few minutes of the opening round had both fighters circling one another pantomiming strikes in fear of a takedown or a counter of one. As the fight eventually got to the ground there was a mad scramble for a limb to either yank, twist or to be defended from such horrors.

Palhares was all over Nate the Great, settled in his guard and quickly went for his signature finish, the heel hook. Too bad for him because as soon as he leaned back, Marquardt yanked his foot from his grip. In this microcosm in time Rousimar went from fight ending checkmate to incredulous disbelief of an opponent being able to escape his clutches.

As the former plantation worker started to protest and accuse his opponent of cheating, Nate Marquardt dropped on him like and overstuffed locker full of UFC middleweight fist. Giving the former king of pancrease his first win since losing to Chael Sonnen earlier this year. A much needed victory was still made sour by the accusation of cheating, from MMA Junkie

“It’s kind of disappointing to have to try and defend yourself over something like that. I’m not a dirty fighter, and I don’t cheat. I don’t grease.”

“I didn’t really know what he was doing, but I saw his hand was kind of pointing toward the ref or something. He took his eyes off me. Once he took his eyes off me, that’s when I jumped in… I guess I was surprised, but at the same time, I was watching him the whole time for an opening. That was it… I was very excited for the win, but that kind of took a little bit of it out of it for me.”

Palhares recognizing the error of his ways issued an apology, also from MMA Junkie

“I’m very sorry for the accusations I made. Nate Marquardt did not cheat in any way, and I’m very sorry to him and his team for my actions in the fight… I congratulate Nate on his win. I learned another lesson for my career in the fight, and I apologize to Nate, his team and the UFC for any issues I contributed to. Nate is not a dirty fighter, and I was wrong to accuse him of cheating in any way.

A good and entertaining event by my fight addict standards, unfortunately the following premiere of The Ultimate Fighter didn’t do so hot. Main speculations point to a lack of a certain ‘Street Certified’ former UFC heavyweight Kimo Slice.

According to Spike TV officials, nearly 20 percent of the audience DVR’d the episode, so complete numbers will not be available until next week at the earliest. Still, the preliminary figures represent a downturn in viewership from Season 11, which debuted in March with a 1.8 household rating and 1.9 million viewers.

The series’ 10th-season debut in September 2009 remains its highest-rated, as it shattered the network’s previous ratings record for the show with a whopping 4.1 million viewers. The season ultimately earned the series its best marks ever, primarily on the back of former street-fighting sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

But that’s a post for another time seeing as the Fight Night card can only do so much as a lead in.