UFC 145: Power Ranking the Preliminary-Card Fights

While UFC 145 featured an action-packed main card with a couple of close fights and some nice finishes, Saturday's undercard had its share of moments as well.

That only one of six bouts ended before time expired speaks to the competitiveness that characterized the night's preliminary action.

Let's take a look back at the six contests that served as Saturday night's appetizer to its UFC 145 main card.  

6: Marcus Brimage Defeats Maximo Blanco Via Split Decision

The first contest of the night set an energizing pace for the event, but that had more to do with the post-fight theatrics than the fight itself.

After the competitors exchanged back flips and cartwheels upon hearing the final horn sound, the bout was brought to a close by a split-decision verdict favoring Brimage.

While Blanco entered the contest as the favorite, he seemed hesitant to engage Brimage, which saddled the fight with an underwhelming pace.

Though there were a few good exchanges here and there, this fight lacked the type of action you can usually count on when two featherweight strikers enter the cage together.

On the bright side, things only got better from here.

5: Mac Danzig Defeats Efrain Escudero Via Unanimous Decision

Like Brimage/Blanco, this one had a few good exchanges, but was a bit slow for the most part. Escudero seemed to be bent on exhibiting his newly sharpened muay thai skills, but couldn't seem to get off on Danzig.

For his part, Danzig looked pretty good. He stifled Escudero's shots when he needed to and was clearly the fight's superior striker.

Danzig never made an honest effort to blow it wide open by going for the finish, but it's difficult to blame the guy who knows he is winning for that.

The ball was in Escudero's court after Round 1—he just didn't seem to know what to do with it.

4: Anthony Njokuani Defeats John Makdessi Via Unamimous Decision

This fight had fireworks written all over it. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver all that was expected.

Makdessi had tremendous difficulty getting into landing range against the lengthy Njokuani, who was content to outpoint his shorter Canadian counterpart.

While each guy threw some impressive strikes, they mostly lacked a key component of traditional highlights—targets.

Wheel kicks and spinning back fists can be pretty cool, but when they barely threaten to make the intended recipient feel a slight breeze, some of the luster falls out.

This fight wasn't all that bad, but the expectations dampened it, making it seem worse than it actually was. 

3: Matt Brown Defeats Stephen Thompson Via Unanimous Decision

This fight is somewhat slippery to place, but I've decided to pin it at the three spot.

The first round was dominated by Brown, who easily took down "The Wonderboy" and mashed his face with a variety of punches and elbows.

The subsequent rounds where characterized by a mutual exhaustion shared between the two fighters. This slowed things to a snail's pace, but the two combatants kept on coming.

Both guys used what little remained in their tanks to make the fight exciting, but aside from a few shots that Thompson looked to stagger Brown with at the end of round two, it was difficult to be over enthused with a fight that appeared to being happening in slow motion.

Had the fighters been able to keep a steady pace, this fight would have been terrific. As it stands, it was pretty entertaining, but it missed out on being a classic because of the lethargy of rounds two and three.

2: Travis Browne Defeats Chad Griggs Via Submission

The only finish of the undercard was an arm-triangle choke by Travis Browne.

After beating Chad Griggs on the feet with knees and punches, Browne tossed his opponent to the mat and followed up with some ground-and-pound.

After making Griggs feel his presence, the Hawaiian decided that enough was enough and finished the fight.

Though only 2:29 in time, this one was short but sweet. Browne looked great, exhibiting some nice stand-up, a takedown and a submission.

Had Griggs mounted some defense, this bout would have been a little more entertaining, but if we take it for what it was—an impressive demonstration of mixed martial arts by one competitor—then the absence of drama is OK.

1: Chris Clements Defeats Keith Wisniewski Via Split Decision

This fight had a bit of everything: striking, grappling, wrestling, bloodshed, a comeback, a tight final score and two contestants who were clearly into the fight.

Wisniewski looked to be cruising to victory in the first round before a bizarre stand-up reset of the fighters gave the better striker, Clements, another chance to score some points.

Wisniewski would succeed a couple more times in taking Clements to the mat, but he could not gain full control of the Canadian, who proceeded to take him apart on the feet.

The American grappler showed tremendous toughness in eating big shots from an accomplished knockout artist, but his return fire just wasn't enough to secure a win.

Marred only by poor officiating, this fight was a very entertaining tussle that must have stood as Fight of the Night until Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick put on their show.