UFC 146 Undercard Live Blog: Hardy vs. Ludwig, Miller vs. Dollaway, More

LAS VEGAS -- This is the UFC 146 undercard live blog for the dos Santos vs. Mir event from the MGM Grand.

There will be seven fights on the undercard. Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins, Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner, Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway, Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig, Jacob Volkmann vs. Paul Sass, Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixeira and Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda will be featured on the prelims.

Check out the live blog below.

Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda

Round 1: They touch gloves in the center and circle around each other cautiously to start. Yves Lavigne is our referee for this one. Pineda slips on a head kick attempt. Brown lets him get up, then goes to work with some looping rights. Knee by Pineda hurts Brown, but responds by driving Pineda across the cage with a takedown attempt that eventually plants Pineda on his back against the fence. Brown works hooks from the top, but Pineda reverses and puts him on his back. Pineda tries for mount, and Brown uses the opportunity to get to his feet. Solid left hook by Pineda gets through Brown’s defenses. Pineda shoots in low and Brown flips him over, landing on top in the final minute of the round. Pineda gets to his feet just as the horn sounds. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Brown.

Round 2: Pineda looks energized at the start of the second. He fires off a flying knee and Brown answers with a series of hooks. Pineda keeps the pressure on and then shoots for a takedown that brings Brown down. Brown is up quickly and has a hold of Pineda’s leg. Pineda tries for a knee with the free leg and gets dumped on his head with a loud crash. Pineda sweeps and Brown gets to his feet. Brown batters Pineda with a series of damaging blows in the clinch. That seemed to take a lot of the starch out of Pineda. We’re down to 90 seconds left in the round, and both men are looking weathered. Brown slips on a kick and Pineda begins to charge in, then goes down hard. Brown pushes him onto his back and does some work with elbows from Pineda’s guard in the last minute of the round. Pineda fires back from the bottom, and Brown is cut around his eye. That doesn’t look good, and there’s the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Brown.

Round 3: Big cheer from the crowd to start the third. It’s been a good scrap to start us off. They trade in the center in the opening seconds of the final round, then Brown backs Pineda up against the fence and drops him with a big knee. Pineda looked like he might be done for a second, but he’s recovered quickly and gets Brown in his guard. Brown’s staying busy from the top with punches and elbows. Pineda thinks about a triangle choke, but can’t get it. Brown keeps working as Pineda slips off to the side and then to his back, a nightmare in slow motion. A minute left in the fight, and Pineda has the body triangle locked on. He likely needs a finish to win this, and Brown knows it. He’s in survival mode, and time is on his side. Ten seconds left, but Pineda can’t even come close to sinking a choke. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Pineda.

Mike Brown def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixeira

Round 1: Texeira slips a jab and hammers Kingsbury with a hard two-punch combo. He follows up with a hook and a straight right moments later. Seems like Texeira does not want to be here very long tonight. An uppercut by Texeira drops Kingsbury, and Texeira takes his back after some punches from the side. Kingsbury rolls and Texeira pounds on him some from the top. Kingsbury gets sloppy while looking for an escape and Texeira locks up the arm triangle choke. He slides off to the side and tightens it up. Kingsbury has no escape, and he has to tap.

Glover Texeira def. Kyle Kingsbury via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:53 of round 1

Jacob Volkmann vs. Paul Sass

Round 1: Herb Dean is our referee for this one. He gives the signal and we’re underway. Sass starts out in a crouched stance, clearly mindful of Volkmann’s takedowns. Just the same, Volkmann gets him on his back about 30 seconds into the fight. So much for that approach. Sass looks like he’s thinking triangle choke, as he often is, but switches to on oma plata. Volkmann is out easily and back on top in Sass’s guard. Sass slaps on a triangle -- his bread and butter -- and Volkmann is stuck. Sass attacks the arm as well, and that’s all for Volkmann. Seems like he might have injured his arm in the process.

Paul Sass def. Jacob Volkmann via submission (triangle choke) 1:54 of round one

Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig

Round 1: Josh Rosenthal is our referee. At the signal, Hardy and Ludwig meet in the middle and begin circling. Ludwig strikes first with a straight shot that wobbles Hardy. Hardy recovers quickly and clinches up against the fence. Hardy lands a nice right hand and an elbow on his way out of the clinch. Ludwig didn’t like that. Head kick by Ludwig just misses. Hardy comes up short on a hook, and Ludwig pops his head back with a jab. Hardy tries for a takedown and gets kneed in the face, so he settles for a clinch. Again he finds a home for that right after disengaging. Hardy reaches out with a left hook that swats Ludwig on the button and sits him down. Hardy raises his hands in premature celebration, then realizes Ludwig isn’t finished yet. He pounces with elbows after a right hand misses, and they find their mark. Ludwig is out. Hardy’s losing streak is over.

Dan Hardy def. Duane Ludwig via KO (elbows) at 3:51 of round one

Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway

Round 1: No glove touch here. Yves Lavigne is our ref. Miller starts the fight with something resembling karate katas. Dollaway keeps a straight face. A big right hand by Miller wobbles Dollaway. Miller charges in recklessly and gets taken down, though nearly catches Dollaway in a guillotine on the way down. Dollaway escapes and they scramble back up. Jab by Dollaway stings Miller. Moments later a hard shot from Dollaway drops Miller, and he has to scramble just to show he’s still in it as Dollaway pours the punches on. Miller survives the onslaught, though he’s having a hard time getting Dollaway to detach from his back. Dollaway ties up an arm and takes Miller’s back, though Miller rolls and gets back to his feet before the horn. What an opening round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Dollaway.

Round 2: Dollaway gets the jab working right away, popping Miller’s head back and avoiding his looping punches. Miller stings Dollaway again, and again Dollaway is doing the stanky leg. Miller tries to capitalize, but he’s on shaky legs too. They’re both slipping and sliding like they’re on skates. Dollaway recovers and gets a takedown, but Miller pops back up quickly. Dollaway keeps working for the takedown against the fence, and he eventually gets it. The crowd isn’t happy with the way he’s managed to slow down this fight, but he does better on the mat with Miller than on the feet so far. Final minute of the round now, and Dollaway is opening up with occasional elbows from the top. Miller tries to kick him off, but Dollaway is back on and stays there until the horn. Miller gets up urging the crowd to lend some support, which it does. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Dollaway.

Round 3: Again Dollaway snaps out that jab, and again Miller hits him with a looping counter punch that hurts him. And, in keeping with their pattern, Dollaway responds to Miller’s aggression with a takedown. The crowd doesn’t like it, but it just might be a winning formula for Dollaway. Miller keeps trying to get to his feet, but ends up giving his back to Dollaway in the process. The crowd lets Dollaway hear it. Miller struggles to his feet, only to be put right back down. Less than two minutes left in the fight now. Dollaway postures up from Miller’s back and peppers him with hammerfists. Miller mocks the effort, but can’t do too much about it. Miller rolls over and nearly gets caught in an arm triangle. Ten seconds left, and Miller extends his arms from the bottom in an exasperated plea. There’s the horn. Dollaway gets up to the sound of boos. Miller shakes his head and gives him a reluctant glove touch. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Dollaway.

CB Dollaway def. Jason Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 29-28)

Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner

Round 1: Steve Mazzagatti is our referee to start things off. Varner comes bouncing in and Barboza slaps him with a leg kick, then a few more. Head kick attempt by Barboza, and Varner catches it and leverages it into a takedown. Varner tries to get his offense working from the top, but Barboza gets him off and gets to his feet. The leg kicks resume right away. After he’s had enough, Varner starts counter-punching when Barboza kicks, and he does so with great success. Varner rocks Barboza with a straight punch, and Barboza is paying shockingly little attention to defending his face. A wobbled Barboza tries to lumber away from the attack, but Varner keeps the pressure on and dumps him on the mat. Barboza rolls for a leg, perhaps looking for a sweep, but he only succeeds in trapping his own arm, opening up his temple for a torrent of free hammer fists from Varner. Mazzagatti has seen enough, and he steps in to wave it off. Barboza doesn’t like it, but come on, how many undefended blows do you expect the ref to let you take?

Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza via TKO (punches) at 3:43 of round 1

Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins

Round 1: Herb Dean gives the signal to start us off, and the fighters come to the center. Elkins paws forward with a jab, and Brando misses with a big uppercut. Elkins drops under a Brando hook and tries for a takedown. They trade top and bottom position for a while, with each man threatening with submissions. Back on their feet, Brandao comes running in with a jumping knee that nearly decapitates Elkins. How he’s still conscious, I don’t know, but he seems to have recovered enough to defend himself on the mat, so Brandao lets him up. A hook by Brandao wobbles Elkins, then an uppercut as he tries to stagger forward. Brandao is laying a beating on Elkins, but Elkins is taking it surprisingly well. His eyes seem clear and he’s defending reasonably well. Brandao pauses between attacks in the final minute, and ends the round taking a breather in Elkins’s guard. MMA Fighting scores it 10-8 for Brandao.

Round 2: Elkins is making an effort to cover up his face as he starts the second. Can you blame him. Brandao stays out of range in the early going, then charges in with a knee. Again, Elkins takes it well. Creative little elbow strike by Brandao, but Elkins keeps firing back. He even gets Brandao down, perhaps by a trip or a slip, and tries to work from his guard. Elkins stands up and nearly takes Brandao’s back when the Brazilian tries to kick him away. Instead he settles for battering him from the top position before moving to half-guard and then full mount. Elkins opens up with a barrage of punches from the top. Dean is taking a close look, but the assault might be more light than heat. Brandao does just enough to survive the round, but now he knows he’s in a fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.

Round 3: Elkins wastes little time getting the fight back to the mat in the final round. You can’t blame him, considering the way this night has gone so far. He stays active from the top position, and though he might not be doing much damage he is at least keeping Dean from standing them up. Elkins passes Brandao’s guard and gets mount again, with a little over two minutes still to go. Brandao doesn’t look like he has much left. Elkins hammers away on his ribs, then tries to lock up a guillotine from the top. Brandao struggles to his feet in the final minute. Elkins tries to get him back down, but makes the critical error of pulling Brandao on top of him. Brandao stands up out of Elkins’s guard and lands one more big right hand before the horn sounds to end the fight. This could be close. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.

Darren Elkins def. Diego Brandao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)