UFC returned to Atlantic City on Friday, June 22nd for UFC on FX 4: Guida vs Maynard.  Like many FX cards, the action was there from the first fight through the last with a variety of finishes.  In the main event, Clay Guida and Gray Maynard went to battle to rebound from their previous loss and springboard back to the top of the lightweight division.

After fighting to a draw and being knocked out, Gray Maynard had a lot to prove against the tough Clay Guida.  Guida did what Guida does best, bounce around and land short punches while avoiding the heavy hands of Maynard.  The first two rounds Guida’s strategy was working as planned, frustrating Maynard.  But then in the third Maynard started to find the rhythm and was able to connect with his power shots.  The fourth Maynard got fed up with the stick and moving of Guida and even taunted Guida to hit him with his best shot.  Guida did just that, but Maynard seemed un-phased.   Even after eating three punches, Maynard was able to stay collected on a takedown attempt by Guida, even working a tight guillotine.  The fifth round was more of Guida doing what his teammate Carlos Condit did to Nick Diaz, but referee Dan Miragliotta warned Guida to engage more.  This fired up Maynard even more, and a close round was split between the judges.  In the end, Maynard earned the split decision victory.

Spenser Fisher and Sam Stout completed their trilogy, six years after the first time the two threw leather at each other.  The question was which fighter was going to be more evolved since their previous battles.  The answer was Sam Stout.  The start of the fifteen minute battle looked much like the two previous fights, both fighters standing toe-to-toe and both fighters throwing bomb after bomb.  But then Stout decided to switch things up and took Fisher down.  It wasn’t the last attempt, but it was probably the most crucial.  The third round Stout again scored a takedown and it looked like he was going to hold the position and finish the round with ground and pound.  To the crowd’s delight, that wasn’t the case as the two finished the fight standing, slugging it out much like they started.

TJ Waldburger’s talent was on full display against Brian Ebersole.  Unfortunately Ebersole’s experience proved to be too much for Waldburger.  The first round was almost over before it started as Waldburger dropped Ebersole with a short right.  When Waldburger jumped on his fallen foe, he was tied up and Ebersole was able to recover and found his range.  The second and third rounds saw Ebersole landing valuable point earning strikes while escaping submission attempts from Waldburger.  Much like when he was dropped in the first and nearly looked finished, a guillotine choke and triangle choke attempt by Waldburger were close to earning the finish.  But Ebersole was able to show that he had been in those positions before and knew how to escape.

Two featherweight fights put some new faces atop the division.  Cub Swanson looked to use his speed over Ross Pearson’s power and for the most part he was able to do that.  He was able to get in and out of the range of Pearson, landing short shot after short shot.  But Pearson at times landed bigger punches and looked like he was going to cruise to a victory via his damage.  Unfortunately Pearson let his hands hang down and Swanson landed two rights and a left that dropped Pearson in the second.  He followed it up with a couple of short shots and earned the knockout victory.

Just one fight prior, Ricardo Lamas took on top contender Hatsu Hioki.  The first round Hioki was able to utilize his aggressive clinch to get the fight to the ground.  Once there he forced Lamas to scramble time and time again, all the while being baited into Hioki’s submission game.  In the second round Lamas found his range and started to land some big punches.  Hioki attempted a takedown, but Lamas showed his submission skills with a guillotine choke of his own.  Hioki was able to escape, only to be put back into the submission again.  Lamas couldn’t finish the choke, but Hioki didn’t have much offense after escaping.  The third round was more of the same as Lamas landed strikes before Hioki shot for the takedown.  Lamas was ready for it and grabbed a deep arm in guillotine choke.  Somehow Hioki survived and just laid on top of Lamas eating body punch after body punch till the bell rang.

Quick Results

• Gray Maynard def. Clay Guida by split decision 48-47, 47-48, 48-47
• Sam Stout def. Spencer Fisher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Brian Ebersole def. T.J. Waldburger via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Cub Swanson def. Ross Pearson via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:14
• Ricardo Lamas def. Hatsu Hioki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ramsey Nijem def. C.J. Keith via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:29
• Rick Story def. Brock Jardine via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Steven Siler def. Joey Gambino via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:47
• Chris Camozzi def. Nick Catone via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 3, 1:51
• Matt Brown def. Luis Ramos via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:20
• Dan Miller def. Ricardo Funch via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 3:12
• Ken Stone def. Dustin Pague via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida took place today at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. All fighters made weight (with the exception of CJ Kieth,) and all bouts will take place as planned. The main event event will be a 5 round affair between Gray Maynard and Clay Guida, and in the co-main event Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher will fight for the third time.

(UPDATE: CJ Kieth did not weigh in a second time, and forfeits 20% of his pay to his opponent Ramsey Nijem.)

Below are the full weigh-in results, and the fights can be seen on FuelTV, and FX for the main card (2 bouts featured on facebook as well.)

Lightweight
Gray Maynard 155 lbs
Clay Guida 155 lbs

Lightweight
Sam Stout 155.5 lbs
Spencer Fisher 156 lbs

Welterweight
Brian Ebersole 170 lbs
TJ Waldburger 170.5 lbs

Featherweight
Ross Pearson 146 lbs
Cub Swanson 145.5 lbs

Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight
Hatsu Hioki 145.5 lbs
Ricardo Lamas 145 lbs

Lightweight
Ramsey Nijem 156 lbs
C.J. Keith  157 lbs*
*Has one hour to lose one pound.

Featherweight
Steven Siler 145.5 lbs
Joey Gambino 145 lbs

Welterweight
Rick Story 169.5 lbs
Brock Jardine 170.5 lbs

Middleweight
Nick Catone 185.5 lbs
Chris Camozzi 185.5 lbs

Welterweight
Matt Brown 170.5 lbs
Luis Ramos 170 lbs

Preliminary Card

Welterweight
Dan Miller 170.5 lbs
Ricardo Funch 170.5 lbs

Bantamweight
Ken Stone 135.5 lbs
Dustin Pague 135 lbs

The finals are now set in the UFC flyweight tournament to crown the inaugural champion. Demetrious Johnson bested Ian McCall, this time without any controversy after the fifteen minutes. The first round Johnson was first to score a takedown and that seemed to surprise McCall, though he did get up quickly. The two went back and forth with punches, with Johnson landing more.

Wanting to adjust for the foot movement and speed of Johnson, McCall’s corner told him to take the fight down in between rounds one and two. McCall immediately took the fight down, and while Johnson was able to stand back up, McCall repeatedly took him down in the round. When the fight was standing, McCall’s footwork was not as flat footed and helped him land his shots more.

Seemingly all tied up after two rounds, the final round had a lot riding on it. McCall tried for a takedown, but Johnson defended it well. After both fighters landed punches, it was Johnson who was able to get McCall down with a crucial takedown. As time was slipping away in the round, McCall tried to turn up his intensity, but it wasn’t enough as Johnson was able to win the round and win the fight.

Erick Silva again shows that he doesn’t like to fight out of the first round. Charlie Brenneman tried to come out faster than Silva and while it worked at first. Silva nearly finished the fight with knees to counter the takedown of Brenneman, but he was put on his but. The two battled for position, Silva wanting to keep it standing, Brenneman wanting to get the fight to the ground. Neither fighter seemed to be able to do what they wanted as the ref had to separate them twice.

Silva started to get fancy with his kicks and a spinning back kick landed for him. He followed up with another kick and Brenneman shot for the takedown. This time Silva was ready and was able to sneak to the back of Brenneman. Once on the ground, Silva was quick to get his hooks in and while working for the second slid his arm under the throat of Brenneman. A quick synch of the choke and it was all over as Brenneman was forced to tap.

Josh Neer and Mike Pyle have an insane amount of fights between the two of them, and their experience showed. Neer had shown weakness to wrestlers and Pyle took full advantage of his wrestling pedigree and took Neer down. But Neer was crafty and escaped. On the feet many would give Neer the edge, and it looked like he had hurt Pyle on more than one instance. As time was winding down, Neer started to tee off on Pyle, but made a crucial mistake as his hands were down as he walked forward. Pyle threw a short right hand that dropped Neer face first into the canvas.

Eddie Wineland finally looked like the Wineland that the fans loved from the WEC. His foot, body, and head movement were all on display against Scott Jorgensen. Wineland was landing his big power right hand against Jorgensen and throughout the first round had Jorgensen guessing. He nearly finished the fight, but Jorgensen showed how quick he can recover from the dangerous spots. The second round Jorgensen bloodied up Wineland with a knee while separating from an exchange. The blood painted a bullseye for Jorgensen who found his range much more. But while Jorgensen started to land more and more punches, it was Wineland who was setting up the finish. Time and time again, Jorgensen ate a right hand that stopped his forward progress. Finally his head had taken enough and Wineland’s right hand found the mark once more, dropping Jorgensen. Several short shots and the ref was forced to stop the fight as Jorgensen was unconscious.

Quick Results
Demetrious Johnson defeated Ian McCall via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Erick Silva defeated Charlie Brenneman via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 1, 4:56
Mike Pyle defeated Josh Neer via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:56
Eddie Wineland defeated Scott Jorgensen via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:10
Mike Pierce defeated Carlos Eduardo Rocha via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski defeated Lance Benoist via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Matt Grice defeated Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dustin Pague defeated Jared Papazian via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:21
Tim Means defeated Justin Salas via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:06
Buddy Roberts defeated Caio Magalhaes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Henry Martinez defeated Bernardo Magalhaes via split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
Sean Pierson defeated Jake Hecht via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)