Randy Couture likes proving people wrong.

If anything defines him, it is that. His career has been a series of outstanding upset victories that both defied the odds and took people’s breath away. People said that he was too old and too slow to defeat Chuck Liddell in 2003, but somehow he managed to do it. People said that we was too old and too small to defeat Tim Sylvia in 2007, but somehow he managed to do it. So as he stood victorious for the first time on American soil since 2007 it seemed like ‘The Natural’ had once again confounded those who had written him off. But when you dig beneath the surface, Couture’s performance failed to silence the doubters.

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The main event of UFC 109: “Relentless” from this past Sat. night was a match up between two aging UFC Hall of Famers in Randy Couture and Mark Coleman.

The bout featured two of the most influential mixed martial artists of all time, each looking for another shot at relevancy in what is every day becoming more and more of a young man’s sport.

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Chael Sonnen entered his bout with Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 a heavy underdog. He left the octagon with an improbable unanimous decision victory after three very dominant rounds. Sonnen managed to score takedowns seemingly at will throughout the entire fight, leaving Marquardt baffled and on his back for almost every minute.

However, Marquardt managed to do the most visible damage early with an elbow from the bottom that sliced Sonnen’s forehead wide open. Blood began to pour down Sonnen’s face, but he managed to maintain his composure and remain in the dominant position.

After fourteen minutes of domination, aside from a few submission attempts that Marquardt failed to lock down, Sonnen found himself in somewhat of a sticky situation. Marquardt reverse the positions and managed to end up on top of Sonnen for the final minute of the fight. But Sonnen survived and the two went to the judges scorecards.

Each judge scored the bout in favor of Sonnen, who gained a title shot with the victory. The way he dominated Marquardt, that’s really no surprise.

Paulo Thiago’s sensational knockout over American Kickboxing Academy’s Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 was certainly an unexpected result for anyone watching. However, the knockout was commonly believed to be a fluke.

Well, Thiago certainly silenced his critics with a beautiful submission victory Sat. night at UFC 109: “Relentless” against Mike “Quick” Swick.

Swick, Koscheck’s teammate, accepted the bout on short notice after Koscheck was unable to take on the rematch due to injury. However, “Quick” followed in his teammate’s footsteps after getting blasted on the feet in the second round.

Swick had landed several nice shots that seemed to have Thiago in a bit of a bind. However, a counter sent Swick to the floor, where Thiago was quite prepared to finish the fight. A tight darce choke put Swick to sleep in the second round after he elected not to tap to the intricate submission.

The victory has to have silenced Thiago’s critics and doubters. The fight, his second victory since his poor effort against Jon Fitch at UFC 100, surely has people paying attention to the Brazilian welterweight.

Thiago also won Submission of the Night honors, worth a cool $60,000. Not a bad deal.

Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman finally had the chance to meet inside the cage Sat. night (Feb. 6) in a fight merely a decade overdue.

Couture wasted no time displaying excellent stand up against Coleman, who looked like anyone but a man who trained with Shawn Tompkins in preparation for the fight. But the fight did not end on the feet, but rather with Coleman’s lights going out from a rear naked choke from “Captain America”.

The fact was apparent that this fight had Couture’s name written all over it from the opening bell. The 46 year old severely outclassed Coleman on the feet and, though it may come as little surprise, in the clinch.

While Coleman managed to make it through the demoralizing first round, it was quite clear that he needed to make some changes if he wanted any shot at victory. However, Couture made quick work of Coleman after the bell for round two rang through Mandalay Bay, locking on the rear naked choke.

Tomasz Adamek picked up his second win as a heavyweight after scoring a unanimous decision over 2004 US Olympian Jason Estrada. Adamek improved to 40-1 (27 KOs) with the win while Estrada fell to 16-3 (4 KOs). The scores of the fight were 115-113, 116-112, and 118-110.

Edwin Valero continued both his undefeated streak as well as his knockout streak Saturday night against Antonio DeMarco. Valero improved to 27-0 (27 KOs) with the win. DeMarco was deducted a point in the second round for an elbow that opened a nasty cut over Valero’s right eye. Valero stayed aggressive despite the cut and overwhelmed DeMarco for the entire fight. The corner for DeMarco stopped the fight after the ninth round.

On the undercard in Mexico, Luis Carlos Abregu defeated Richard Gutierrez by unanimous decision, despite being knocked down in the second round. Abregu returned the favor by knocking down Gutierrez in the third. Scores were 98-90, 97-91, and 97-91.

Inside Fights will be providing live coverage for tonight’s UFC 109 main card.

Tonight’s show takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two preliminary-card bouts air on Spike TV before the main card airs on pay-per-view.

The event features a light-heavyweight main event between former champions and UFC Hall of Famers Randy Couture and Mark Coleman. While either of those two could earn a title shot with a decisive victory, co-headliners Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen are guaranteed a shot at the middleweight belt with a win tonight.

UFC 109 is set for 10 p.m. ET/7 pm PT tonight live from the Mandalay Bay. Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results.

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Glen Johnson won a light heavyweight title eliminator against Yusaf Mack earlier tonight in Miami, FL. Johnson, 41, started slow but the action started to pick up after an exciting fourth round. Johnson abandoned his usually reckless style and fought with more patience. The patience paid off in the sixth when Johnson dropped Mack with a left-right combo. Mack beat the count but an overhand right put Mack back down. Mack was up again but Johnson forced Mack to take a knee for the third official knockdown of the round. The referee waved off the fight, awarding Johnson his 50th career win.

Glen Johnson and Yusaf Mack were originally scheduled to fight on the Jan 30 undercard of Andre Berto vs Shane Mosley. That card was canceled when Andre Berto withdrew due to the tragedies in Haiti. Johnson-Mack instead aired as a part of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. With the win, Glen Johnson becomes the mandatory challenger to the light heavyweight title held by Tavoris Cloud.

In the first fight of the evening, Guillermo Rigondeaux rocked Adolfo Landeros with a left to the body that Landeros was unable to recover from. The official time of the knockout was 0:28 of the first round.

The UFC 109 weigh-ins are a wrap from Las Vegas, Nevada, 24 hours prior to Sat. night’s event.

UFC 109 is set for the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is headlined by a main event between two aging light heavyweights Mark Coleman and Randy Couture in a bout with possible title implications.

Also on the card is a middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, which will serve as the co-main event of the evening. Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller, Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago, and Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg will round out the main card.

Continue reading for the results from earlier today (Feb. 5).

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