UFC 183 Main Card Live Results: Anderson Silva Outclasses Nick Diaz

Tonight’s (Sat., January 31, 2014) UFC 183 pay-per-view (PPV) main card is underway from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event features a blockbuster middleweight main event between longtime former UFC champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Both fighters are returning from long layoffs, as Silva has been out of the cage since suffering a brutal broken leg in his UFC 168 rematch with champion Chris Weidman in December 2013.

Diaz, meanwhile, has been on the sidelines since his lopsided UFC 158 loss to decorated former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in March 2013.

It promised to be an unpredictable and potentially great slugfest between two noted strikers, and the fight began with Diaz clowning in epic fashion, even lying down at one point. Diaz landed some good boxing, but Silva found his range with a left low kick and some huge shots and knees to the body along the fence.

Silva landed some varied kicks in the second, and Diaz countered with some leg kicks and combos of his own. Silva settled into his groove towards the end of the round, but remained a bit tentative overall. “The Spider” landed some stiff push kicks and some sharp shots in the third, opening up with some fluid strikes. Diaz was cut as Silva went for a flying knee, snapping some counters while Diaz scored with punches of his own.

Diaz kept up low kicks in the third as the action slowed. Diaz landed some decent elbows from the clinch and Silva continue to snap his kicks. In the final frame, Diaz danced around. Silva worked his jab and threw a huge head kick. Diaz landed some strong counters and Silva some combos, throwing a flying knee and spin kick. Diaz was busted up badly under his eye from getting outstruck. “The Spider” took home a

The co-main event features a welterweight affair between No. 3-ranked Tyron Woodley and No. 7 Kelvin Gastelum, who missed weight by a whopping 10 pounds after being taken to the hospital for flu-like symptoms. The opening round started off slowly with Gastelum controlling the Octagon as the crowd began to boo. Woodley landed some big right hands in the second, following with some stiff kicks before Gastelum countered with some shots as the round came to an end. In the third, Woodley appeared gassed as Gastelum continued to pressure with his kicks, but it ultimately just wasn’t meant to be for the TUF 17 winner. Woodley took home a controversial split decision that featured a highly questionable 30-27 score from one judge.

All-time bonus record holder Joe Lauzon faced up-and-coming prospect Al Iaquinta. The veteran Lauzon scored with a strong combo early on, but Iaquinta came back to nail him with a head kick. Lauzon landed some good punches followed by a big knee to go for a guillotine. Iaquinta landed some good punches to code the round, and continued that in the second. The Long Island native dropped Lauzon with some big shots, following him to tee off. Amazingly Lauzon survived, but the sheer volume of punches lead the referee to stop the bout.

Surging former middleweight title challenger Thales Leites will square off with veteran Tim Boetsch in a pivotal scrap for both men’s careers. After a back-and-forth first round, Boetsch landed some rushing power shots to drop Leites as the last seconds ticked down. It turned into a battle in the second, with more momentum from Boetsch. “”The Barbarian” dropped Leites, who recovered with a pivotal takedown to get the mount and lock on a tight arm triangle choke. Boetsch somehow escaped, but Leites quickly went for another. This time it was over when Boetsch passed out cold.

The main card will be kicked off by a welterweight bout with the potential for fireworks between power punchers Jordan Mein and Thiago Alves. Mein landed some huge punches in the opening round, mixing it up with strong hooks, uppercuts, and body work. But “The Pitbull” quickly turned the tables in the second, landing a stiff body kick and a swarm of follow-up shots to earn the stoppage.

UFC 183 Main Card Results:

Anderson Silva def. Nick Diaz via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)

Tyron Woodley def. Kelvin Gastelum via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Al Iaquinta def. Joe Lauzon via R2 TKO (strikes, 3:34)

Thales Leites def. Tim Boetsch via R2 submission (arm triangle choke, 3:45)

Thiago Alves def. Jordan Mein via R2 TKO (strikes, 0:39)