FIGHT! Facts & Rankings: UFC 114 Rampage vs. Evans (VIDEO)

Last night was one for the underdogs as Mike Russow dropped Todd Duffee, Jason Brilz lost a tough decision that many thought he won, and John Hathaway ruined Diego’s return to 170.

Rashad Evans def. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).
Michael Bisping def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee via knockout (punch) at 2:35 of Round 3.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Jason Brilz (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
John Hathaway def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
Dong Hyun Kim def. Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Efrain Escudero def. Dan Lauzon via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27).
Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe via TKO (strikes) at 3:28 of Round 1.
Cyrille Diabate def. Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) at 2:13 of Round 1.
Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:06 of Round 1.

The UFC handed out bonuses in the amount of $65,000 following Saturday’s event. The recipients were Antonio Rogerio Nogeuira and Jason Brilz (Fight of the Night), Mike Russow (Knockout of the Night), and Ryan Jensen (Submission of the Night).

UFC President Dana White announced attendance of 15,081 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for a live gate of $3.895 million.

(Rampage probably did a different kind of howling after dropping a decision to his nemesis, Rashad Evans.)

Rashad Evans earned his second title shot and moved from #4 to #2 in our Light Heavyweight Rankings with his win over Rampage Jackson, who drops from #6 to #7. In another light heavyweight fight with title challenger implications, Antonio Rogerio Nogueria escaped with a split decision victory but slips from #3 to #8, while Jason Brilz jumps from #24 to #15 with an effort that many felt was deserving of the win. Unranked Cyrille Diabate made noise at 205 in his UFC debut, finishing Luiz Cane, who drops from #16 to #28.

Michael Bisping climbs back toward relevance at 185 with his win over Dan Miller, moving from #41 to #25 in our Middleweight Rankings. Miller drops from #31 to #47. In the night’s only other bout contested at 185 pounds, Ryan Jensen moves from #79 to #62 with his submission of Jesse Forbes, who slips from #90 to #92.

Mike Russow put the brakes on the Todd Duffee hype train with his third-round knockout, moving from #25 to #13 in our Heavyweight Rankings. Todd Duffee will enter our rankings after his third qualifying fight.

John Hathaway jumps into the top 10 in our Welterweight Rankings, moving from #23 to #10, with his masterful win over Diego Sanchez. “Nightmare” re-enters our Welterweight Rankings at #26. In other action at 170, Dong Hyun Kim moves from #22 to #12 after his decision win over Amir Sadollah, who drops from #25 to #43.

UFC 114 boasted a trio of lightweight fights, with most of the action taking place south of our top 50. Melvin Guillard moves from #49 to #36 with his TKO of unranked UFC rook Waylon Lowe. Efrain Escudero moves from #52 to #48 with his victory over Dan Lauzon, who slips from #72 to #77, and Aaron Riley moves from #80 to #61 with his win over unranked Joe Brammer.

(Bisping cracks Miller.)

Our picks were brutal, especially when you figure that one of our hits (Nogueira) should have been a miss. Everyone has bad nights, and we’re still 51-27 on the year.