THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — A dominant victory earned Michael Bisping some unlikely respect at The Ultimate Fighter 14.
Bisping defeated Jason Miller by TKO in the main event Saturday at the Pearl at the Palms casino.
As Bisping celebrated, Miller praised the Brit he had made a practice of taunting.
"For all the boos Michael Bisping gets, as a fighter he deserves your cheers," said a bloodied Miller, minutes after referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the scheduled five-round bout at 3:34 in the third round.
The war of words had escalated between the two coaches of the popular reality TV show on Spike TV all season long. Fans at both Friday’s weigh-in and during the fight booed Bisping heavily.
But in the end, Miller’s taunts and the jeers from the crowd only served as extra motivation for The Count — who methodically picked Miller apart in the second and third rounds with a flurry of punches, knees and takedowns.
"There’s good guys and bad guys and people try to peg me as the bad guy," said Bisping, who improved to 12-3 in the UFC with the victory. "I really don’t see what I do to deserve that, but who cares.
"This was a satisfying victory. Jason jumped on the bandwagon that nobody likes me. That I’m not a very good fighter and I don’t deserve the accolades and rewards I’ve received for being a professional fighter all this time. He’s been quick to discredit me. That doesn’t sit well with me. I find it very offensive. So it was nice to go out there and teach him a lesson."
UFC president Dana White tweeted the bout was "The most one sided fight I might have ever seen in the UFC!"
But Bisping disagreed, and so did the judges who all gave Miller the first round.
After the initial five minutes though, the fight was all Bisping as his striking started to take its toll on a gassed Miller.
Ever the showman, "Mayhem" taunted Bisping after a series of brutal blows to show he wasn’t hurt, but that too was false. Finally Mazzagatti had seen enough in the third with Miller once again on the canvas with Bisping raining down blows.
"I trained really hard for this fight," said Miller (24-8, one no contest), who was returning to the UFC for the first time since April 2005.
"I’m sorry guys, I got tired. I can’t make any excuses about it."
Diego Brandao and John Dodson became the members of the "ultimate fighter" fraternity as Brandao defeated Dennis Bermudez with a out-of-nowhere armbar to win the featherweight tourney and the pint-sized Dodson quickly defeated T.J. Dillashaw.
"It is a mission accomplished for me — I’m going to go back home to Brazil and buy a house for my mother and take care of my brother," said an ecstatic Brandao, who looked to be finished by Bermudez’ overwhelming blows before slapping a slick armbar at the end of the first round that likely broke Bermudez’s limb.
In addition to his first UFC victory and guaranteed contract with the UFC, Brandao earned an extra US$40,000 bonus each for "Submission of the Night" and "Fight of the Night."
"Now I feel great, I don’t have any pressure anymore. God gave me this blessing because I want to help the kids in Brazil," said Brandao. "I want to help my mother, I want to help a lot of kids … because now I’m starting my new life in the UFC."
The five-foot-three Dodson might have been even more excited about his first-round TKO over Dillashaw as he did back-to-back flips off the cage.
"I feel amazing about what I did today," said Dodson, who earned "Knockout of the Night."
"I’m glad the UFC gave me the opportunity to go ahead and do this. It was one of the things I knew I had to do. The house was amazing, I met some people I’d like to fight in the future and there are some good things coming out of it for me too."
Winnipeg’s Roland Delorme escaped some early trouble to pick up his first win in the UFC when he submitted Josh Ferguson with a rear-naked choke just 22 seconds into the third round.
"I needed to keep my range because he’s short and stocky and he has a lot of power," said the 28-year-old Delorme, who after being wobbled in both the first and second rounds by Ferguson was able to drop him with a jab before sinking in the choke.
"I was able to stay on the outside and capitalize on (Ferguson’s) mistakes with a strong jab," he said. "Luckily I hurt him and was able to finish the submission. I’m very happy with the victory and I’m looking forward to more fights here with the UFC."
TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson earned a unanimous decision victory over Yves Edwards and Johnny Bedford defeated Louis Gaudinot on the main card.
Team Bisping teammates Marcus Brimage and Stephen Bass offered up the best fight of the preliminary bouts with the two turning the final round into a slugfest to the crowd’s delight.
John Albert, Steven Siler and Bryan Caraway all emerged as winners as well.
In addition to the TUF finale, the UFC announced Saturday that former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans would face Phil Davis in a No. 1 contender match, which will headline the promotion’s second show on FOX on Jan. 28 at the United Center in Chicago. A knee injury forced Davis to pull out of his initial bout with Evans slated for UFC 133.
While the main event will be a five-round, non-title fight, the co-main event could be equally explosive as boisterous Chael Sonnen — who was long rumoured to be facing Anderson Silva in a rematch of their epic 2010 championship match — will square off against Mark Munoz in a bout that will decide who gets the right to fight Silva.
