By the time it was over, the octagon mat looked like a crime scene, but instead of facing trouble for what he'd done, Jim Miller had his hand raised in victory.

Fighting for the first time since his disappointing May loss to Nate Diaz, Miller came out with both guns blazing and savaged Joe Lauzon early, then fended off late comeback attempts to earn the UFC 155 victory in the night's co-main event.

Miller looked hellbent on finishing in the first round, using a vicious dirty boxing approach to slash Lauzon open with elbows and uppercuts. When the opening five minutes were over, Lauzon was already a bloodied mess and needed to be looked at by the cageside doctor.

Miller scored an early takedown in the second and added to the damage, but showing the heart that's led to a series of bonus awards, Lauzon refused to surrender and mounted a comeback.

Late in the third, Lauzon tried an ankle lock and a guillotine, fighting to the final horn, but fell short.

"Joe is one of the toughest guys in the world," Miller said afterward as the crowd bathed the fighters in applause.

According to FightMetric, Miller landed 91 significant strikes to Lauzon's 35.

Back on the winning track, Miller is now 22-4.

Lauzon dropped to 22-8.