UFC 181 undercard live blog: Faber vs. Rivera, more

This is the UFC 181 undercard live blog for the UFC 181 event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

There will be six fights on the UFC 181 undercard. Urijah Faber vs. Francisco Rivera, Eddie Gordon vs. Josh Samman, Corey Anderson vs. Justin Jones, Raquel Pennington vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith, Sergio Pettis vs. Matt Hobar, and Alex White vs. Clay Collard will be featured on the prelims.

Check out the UFC 181 undercard live blog below.

Alex White vs. Clay Collard
Round 1: Collard's nickname is "Cassius," so he better be good. Both of these guys are exciting prospects coming off losses. Let's see how this one works out. Mark Smith is the referee. Collard tries a jumping kick to start off. Didn't exactly work. Collard lands a couple of solid rights and pushes White against the cage. White lands a right and then another right to the body. Nicely done. White punches his way out of a Thai clinch. Collard is throwing solid combinations. White lands a hard right coming in. Ouch. Another weird jumping kick by Collard. Doesn't land. Again. Collard lands a solid left. Collard takes down White. White is back up. He lands a right hook. Close round. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Collard.

Round 2: Left hook rocks White. Another one puts him down. White with a switch and he's on top. Great recovery. Spoke too soon. White dives for a leg lock. Doesn't get it and Collard is back on top. White turns and gets up, landing a hard knee to the face on the way to his feet. Left hook by Collard. Straight right by Collard. White has a cut under his left eye. White goes for a takedown and Collard stuffs it. White lands a nice uppercut. Collard pulls guard looking for a triangle. Wow. White is in some trouble. But he slips out. White lands a combination against the cage. Collard lands a combination and White hits with a back fist at the bell. Damn. Great round. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Collard (20-18 Collard).

Round 3: White lands a right. White looks like the fresher fighter, though he's losing this fight. Blood coming from Collard's nose. White lands a combination and Collard goes for a takedown against the cage. They break. White lands a left. White goes for a spinning back fist, halfheartedly. And gets taken down. White looking for a triangle now. Collard wearing blood all over his face. They're back up. Collard looking for a takedown. Good strategy. He's trying to ride this one out. White lands a takedown. Too little, too late. That's it. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 White (29-28 Collard).

Clay Collard def. Alex White via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Sergio Pettis vs. Matt Hobar
Round 1: Pettis has quite a bit to live up to since his older brother is the UFC lightweight champion. Hobar isn't a tomato can by any means, but Pettis could use this victory. He hasn't surged to stardom like some expected. Mario Yamasaki is the third guy in the Octagon. Hobar drops Pettis with a left. Wow. Pettis is up. Pettis lands a nice right. Pettis lands again. Hobar takes him down. Pettis hits an upkick. Hobar takes side control. Hobar back in guard, landing some ground and pound. Pettis sweeps and gets up. Pettis lands a right and a high kick. Hobar lands a combo. Good wheel kick by Pettis. Hobar is wobbly. Pettis goes for a takedown. Hobar ends up on top. Pettis is turtled. Hobar in a sprawl position. Time running out on the round. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Hobar.

Round 2: Pettis lands a combination, then a head kick. Wow. Hobar ate it. Another high kick and a combo by Pettis. Hobar is hurt. Pettis is teeing off. Ground and pound. Hobar achieves guard. Pettis had been close to finishing, too. Yamasaki stands them up. Neither were doing anything. Pettis hits with a right. Pettis crushes Hobar with a pair of rights. Hobar lands a takedown. Huge. Pettis in mission control. Hobar has some blood coming from his mouth. Pettis nearly has an armbar. Hobar spins out and stays on top as the round ends. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Pettis (19-19).

Round 3: Both of Hobar's eyes look awful. Pettis looks like he's trying to set something up here. Hobar lands a knee to the head. Hobar grabs a kick and looks for a single leg. Pettis stuffs it. This fight is still out there for the taking. Pettis lands a combination. Kick to the body by Hobar. Goes up high with it, too. Hobar goes for a single. Pettis defends and lands a knee. Hobar pushes Pettis against the cage. Round and fight over. Would have liked to have seen more from Pettis in that round, but he still won. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Pettis (29-28).

Sergio Pettis def. Matt Hobar via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Raquel Pennington vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith
Round 1: Holly Holm was supposed to be in this fight against Pennington until she injured her neck. Evans-Smith was signed to replace her. This is a big fight for both women, who are trying to carve out a path in the wide-open 135-pound division. Mark Smith is your referee. Pennington goes for a takedown surprisingly. She doesn't get it. Evans-Smith pushes her against the fence. Pennington working some dirty boxing. Lands a good knee. Evans-Smith dumps Pennington with a single leg. She's in half guard. Landing some ground and pound. Pennington gets guard. Evans-Smith slams Pennington, but Pennington uses it to get up. Evans-Smith hits with a knee in the clinch. Pennington has a cut on her face. Blood pouring. And now they are slugging in tight. Evans-Smith lands a knee to the body and controls the clinch. That's a nasty cut on Pennington's forehead. Evans-Smith lands some dirty boxing. Pennington, too. Big knees to the body by Evans-Smith. Pennington lands a nice takedown, but Evans-Smith is back up. Pennington has a bulldog choke! Evans-Smith looks out at the bell. And FOX goes to commercial, nice. That's it. Pennington wins by submission. Evans-Smith was unconscious.

Raquel Pennington def. Ashlee Evans-Smith via submission (bulldog choke) at 4:59 of R1

Corey Anderson vs. Justin Jones
Round 1: Anderson is coming off winning the Ultimate Fighter 19 light heavyweight final in July. Jones is making his UFC debut. Anderson is a prospect. Should be interesting to see what happens here. John McCarthy is your referee. Anderson lands a body kick and left hook. Anderson stuffs a takedown and punishes Jones for trying it with punches. Jones throwing some leather, too. Anderson takes Jones down. Jones looking for a guillotine. Doesn't get it. They're both up and Anderson lands some punches and knees. Jones lands a left and a right. Takedown attempt by Anderson. Jones looks for a guillotine again. Jones lands a knee in a Thai clinch. Anderson gets Jones down and has his back. Slick. Landing some ground and pound. Half guard. Time running down. Jones gets up as the round ends. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Anderson.

Round 2: Good knees to the body from Anderson up against the cage. Right hand by Jones. Anderson hits a takedown. Jones works his way back up. Knees by Anderson. Jones might be a little wobbled. Anderson pushing him up against the cage. Jones breaks loose and they separate. Leg kick by Jones. Good jabs by Anderson. Another leg kick by Jones. Smart move. Another. Anderson wraps Jones up into a clinch against the cage. Anderson takes him down. Round running down. Anderson will finish in top position. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Anderson (20-18).

Round 3: Anderson initiates the clinch again. Anderson lands knees to the body. He's making this messy and it's certainly to his favor. Jones has been better at distance. Anderson slams Jones down. He ran across the cage with him, Matt Hughes style. But it wasn't nearly as emphatic. Anderson in half guard. Jones trying to get up. Anderson is just grinding him out. Anderson has him down again. Jones is up, but Anderson has him against the cage. Anderson with a spinning elbow that doesn't quite land. Anderson takes Jones down again. Half guard. Less than a minute left now. Anderson looking for a straight armbar, then an americana. Anderson lands some ground and pound as the bell sounds. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Anderson (30-27).

Corey Anderson def. Justin Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Eddie Gordon vs. Josh Samman
Round 1: Another TUF 19 winner, Gordon, makes his return on the prelims. He smashed Dhiego Lima in just over a minute in July. Samman has not fought since the TUF 17 Finale in April 2013. He could emerge as a prospect. Herb Dean is the third man in the Octagon. A quick scramble and Gordon goes for a guillotine. More scrambling. They're both up. Samman catches Gordon in the groin with a knee. Gordon is hurting. He's OK now, though. Gordon tosses Samman down after Samman goes for a takedown. That's serious strength. Gordon in guard. Samman has him all wrapped up. Not a ton of activity. Dean finally stands them up. Gordon lands a right hand as Samman goes for a kick. Gordon takes Samman down. Elbows by Gordon. The round ends with Gordon on top. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Gordon.

Round 2: Crane kick by Samman. Gordon lands a right. Just wild sequences when these two are on the feet. Gordon takes him down and is on top again. In half guard. Back to guard. Samman needs to just get up and stop trying to look for submissions. Gordon just grinding here. Passes to half guard. Samman is sitting up against the fence. Dean is going to stand them up. Samman head kick finish! Oh my goodness! Gordon is knocked cold. It was a switch kick that landed right on the button.

Josh Samman def. Eddie Gordon via knockout at 3:08 of R2

Urijah Faber vs. Francisco Rivera
Round 1: Biggest fight of Rivera's career here. Faber is a heavy favorite. Dude has never lost a non-title fight. Mario Yamasaki is your referee. Faber needs to be careful trading with Rivera. Rivera lands a right hook. Faber hasn't really tried to go for a takedown yet. Faber catches Rivera's kick. RIvera stumbles momentarily, but he's back up. Rivera shirks off a Faber takedown. Body kick by Rivera. Faber lands a left hook. Rivera lands a kick as Faber shoots. He also stuffs the takedown attempt. Hard leg kick by Rivera. Right hand by Rivera. Rivera lands to the body. Rivera stuffs a takedown and throws a few combinations. Faber blocks most as the round ends. MMA Fighting has it 10-9 Rivera.

Round 2: Rivera is smiling as the round starts. Rivera stuffs a single leg, but takes a poke in the eye from Faber. RIvera is hurt badly and Yamasaki missed it. Faber swarms and locks in a choke. It's over. Rivera taps. Wow. What an unfortunate turn of events for Rivera. He was winning this fight. Awful break.

Urijah Faber def. Francisco Rivera via submission (neck crank) at 1:34 of R2