UFC on FUEL 3 Live Blog: Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez

This is the UFC on FUEL 3 live blog for Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez, a welterweight bout on Tuesday night's UFC event from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

Sadollah, who has won two of his last three fights, will fight Lopez, who lost in his UFC debut this past September, on the main card.

Check out the live blog below.

Round 1: Lopez gets off some sharp combinations early on, forcing Sadollah to cover up and reset. Sadollah tries to use his range with kicks, but Lopez manages to bully him in the clinch a little as he puts Sadollah’s back on the fence. They battle in close a bit, then disengage. Sadollah fires off a kick and Lopez looks for a takedown. He drops low and then lifts Sadollah up before slamming him down in the final two minutes of the round. Lopez thinks about a kimura from the top position in half-guard, but Sadollah works back up and finishes the round working short strikes from the clinch. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Lopez.

Round 2: Sadollah comes out firing to start the second, and Lopez immediately gets in close, looking for another takedown against the fence. Sadollah shuts it down, but still gets stuck with his back on the fence. The crowd is not impressed with the action so far. They disengage and move back to the center, where Sadollah gets in his best strikes of the fight so far. Lopez digs for the takedown again and nearly gets himself caught in a standing guillotine, but reverses well and briefly gets top position. Sadollah reverses, clinches against the fence, then hey hit pause on the grappling match and resume striking in the center of the cage. Final minute of the second, and Sadollah gets his body kicks working. Lopez looked bothered by the last one, but manages to get a takedown to perhaps steal the round as time ticks away. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Lopez.

Round 3: Sadollah again tries to open up his offense on the feet to start the round, but Lopez goes right back to the clinch in search of that takedown. Again, Sadollah thinks about a standing guillotine, but abandons this one and returns to the position battle that’s been happening in the clinch, off and on, for this entire fight. They get some space and Sadollah lands a nice left and a front kick to the face. Lopez might be slowing down, but he has no problem getting in tight and suffocating Sadollah whenever things aren’t going his way. Lopez finishes the takedown and gets Sadollah on his back in the center of the cage. Lopez can’t get much going from Sadollah’s guard, but he seems content to stay on top and ride it out as long as the ref will let him. With a minute left, referee Keith Peterson stands them up. Sadollah soon gets a takedown of his own, then gets his dirty boxing in once Lopez returns to his feet. The clock’s going to run out here, and not a minute too soon for this crowd. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Lopez.

Amir Sadollah def. Jorge Lopez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)