By Brady Crytzer
Photos by Chris Cozzone

Ultimate Fight Night Four proved to be another exciting night of action at The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Following a night of upsets, Stephan ?The American Psycho? Bonnar won a unanimous decision in a back and forth war against Keith ?The Dean of Mean? Jardine in the main event of the evening.

The main event of the evening started out at a slow pace as Bonnar used some exchanges to gage his opponent?s strength. As the men circled each other looking for their openings, Jardine utilized a hard leg kick to control much of tempo. But, with shades of Griffin/Bonner coming in the room, Stephan Bonnar was always there to answer with sharp punches of his own. Though the men entered into the clinch of few occasions, the story of the first round was the right shin of ?The Dean of Mean? slamming repeatedly into the soft tissue of his opponent?s right thigh. With the first round coming to close, Jardine pressed the action landing multiple shots that caused a mouse under the right eye and sent ?The American Psycho? sprawling at the buzzer.

Round two saw a clearly sore Stephan Bonnar pull out all the stops to try and catch his opponent with little success. As the Terminator-like Jardine pressed on, Bonnar threw a multitude of spinning back kicks and back fists with little effect on his opponent.

The third and final round saw both men leave everything that they had in the Octagon as Bonnar and Jardine exchanged willingly. Near the one minute mark of the final round, Bonnar scored the biggest punch of the fight sending Jardine to the mat and inciting the crowd to a riot. With ?The Dean of Mean? stunned, Bonnar pounced on his man but did little to capitalize. As the round began to wind down to an end, both men knew that the last minute of the fight would possibly determine the winner. As the warriors exchanged, Jardine blasted Bonnar with a left hook followed by a high kick that ended the fight on an exclamation point. As the men went back to their corners, the crowd erupted as it was announced that Stephan ?The American Psycho? Bonnar was awarded a unanimous decision victory with scores reading 29-28 on three occasions.

In an exciting light heavyweight bout The Ultimate Fighter 2 heavyweight winner Rashaad Evans won a razor thin split decision over The Ultimate Fighter 1 contestant Sam ?The Alaskan Assassin? Hoger. Opening with quick jabs, Rashaad Evans shot for a takedown immediately showing his wrestling prowess. After being stood up for inactivity, Evans and Hoger engaged in a crowd pleasing exchange that left Hoger dazed. The men took to the ground again and were brought back to their feet once more. Trying to capitalize on the stand up, Hoger launched an off target high kick that allowed for a hard Evans counter right that froze his opponent in his tracks. As the buzzer sounded, the men stood toe-to-toe with the audience fully behind them.

Showing a willingness to trade, Sam Hoger whizzed a knee to the face of Evans as round two began followed by high kick that just missed its target. Following another brief stint on the ground, Evans began another assault of quick, accurate shots that rocked Hoger once again. With his opponent stunned, Rashaad Evans drove Hoger to the mat and looking to ground n? pound. As the end of the round neared, Hoger shocked the crowd as he secured at tight armbar on Evans that looked to be the end of the fight. With his arm at a wrenching angle, Evans was saved by the bell just as Hoger rolled him over.

Starting the final round at a blistering pace, Hoger drilled Evans with a fast head kick that stunned the heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2and opened a cut on his right eye causing him to shoot for a desperation takedown. The men wowed the arena with a slick exchange on the ground until Hoger, after failing to secure an ankle lock, took the fight back to the feet where he was taken down repeatedly by Evans. The exciting bout concluded with the judges scorecards reading 29-28 Hoger, 29-28 Evans and 30-27 for the winner by split decision Rashaad Evans.

Playing the role of spoiler, Josh ?The Dentist? Neer pounded out a thrilling three-round unanimous decision over a debuting Joe ?Daddy? Stevenson in his first bout since winning The Ultimate Fighter 2. The opening moments of the round proved tense as ?The Dentist? ripped one-two combinations at The Ultimate Fighter 2 champion that, in some cases, grazed the chin of Stevenson. But, showing veteran merit, Joe ?Daddy? Stevenson leapt for a tight kneebar which Neer miraculously survived only to be caught in a slick ankle lock. Though both holds were extended to their fullest, the tough as nails Neer refused to submit and never stopped being busy. After capitalizing on a slip following a leg kick, Neer finished round number one in the top position.

The second round began as the first with Neer throwing bombs at his opponent. But, unlike in the first, Neer once again capitalized on another Stevenson slip by initiating a ferocious ground n? pound attack that allowed him to easily control round number two. Following a hard combination, Stevenson showed blood on the back of his head from a Neer elbow. The third round saw Josh ?The Dentist? Neer take over the final round of the welterweight contest by blasting his opponent with a knee to the jaw that dropped him in his tracks. Now, with Joe Stevenson?s forehead cut by a Neer punch from the top position, the once bleached blonde hair of ?Daddy? glowed a crimson red as Josh Neer began to tee off with hard punches and elbows with little in return. Though Stevenson showed great spirit taking Neer to the fence and landing shots of his own, it proved too little too late as Josh ?The Dentist? Neer was awarded a hard fought unanimous decision. The scorecards all read the same: 29-28.

?Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you,? Stevenson said. ?If I was in a little better shape I think this would be a good fight at 155. I will just train harder, give my wife a kiss and have fun.?

?I want to drop down to 155,? Neer said. ?I think I can be a real force at that weight.?

In a lackluster affair, middleweight fan favorite Chris ?The Crippler? Leben scored a three round unanimous decision victory over the resilient Luigi Fioravanti in the first televised bout of the night. In the opening moments Leben had a clear mission to overwhelm his smaller opponent with patient combinations of well timed knees and short punches on the inside. Though Fiorvanti managed to hold Leben against the fence and went for a number of takedowns which his opponent stuffed impressively. After a botched takedown attempt by Fioravanti, Leben capitalized by mounting his opponent and raining down elbows as round one came to an end. The second round saw ?The Crippler? display impressive ground n? pound on a tired Luigi Fioravanti throughout much of the round. Leben, who now trains with Matt Hume in Seattle, Washington, took his opponent down at will and had little trouble defending any attack from his opponent. The second round ended the same as the first with Leben in the mounted position and his opponent doing little in retaliation. The third and final round proved to be uneventful as the tired and weak Fioravanti showed little passion and rarely launched any kind of offensive. In the end, Chris ?The Crippler? Leben was awarded the unanimous decision victory with all three scorecards the same: 30-27.

?It?s kind of like one of those bad dreams where you keep swinging and missing,? Leben said. ?I give the kid credit, he took a lot of my shots and it?s the kind of fight that I like. It went the distance and you got to see some good banging. There are a lot of guys out there that can give me a run for my money, but there are very few guys that can put me away.?

In a battle of heavyweight skyscrapers from The Ultimate Fighter 2, Albuquerque?s Dan Christianson scored a third round submission victory over fan favorite Brad ?The Hillbilly Heartthrob? Imes at 1:26 of the third and final round. The opening moments of round one saw Christianson throwing well-timed combinations despite taking the fight on short notice. After some exciting exchanges, a well-placed knee to the groin by Imes stopped the action momentarily. With revenge on his mind, Christianson dropped the 6?8 Imes with a left-right combination that sent The Joint into a craze. Imes retaliated with an attempted ankle lock as the round came to an end. Round two became an exhibition in heart as the two giants exchanged punches while tiring badly. Following a finger to the eye of Christianson, the two men unloaded heavy punches on each other to finish out the round. Round three saw the end of the exciting bout as Dan Christianson secured a fight winning armbar from the bottom position at 1:26. Christianson advances to while Imes suffers the second loss of his young but hopeful career.

Josh Koscheck wasted little time in his Octagon return submitting opponent Ansar Chalangov at 3:29 of the opening round with a rear naked choke. After exchanging a small amount of inconsequential strikes, the former NCAA national champion scored a takedown on his Russian opponent and was nearly caught in a guillotine choke. But, showing a world class wrestling pedigree, Koscheck quickly took the back of his opponent and put the squeeze on Chalangov giving him the eighth victory of his mixed martial arts career.
In a welterweight contest featuring two of the UFC?s best young hopefuls, Jon Fitch scored the first upset of the night submitting Josh Burkman with a rear naked choke just seconds before the end of round number two.

In a battle of two former light heavyweight wrestlers, Team Quest?s Chael Sonnen scored a unanimous decision victory over South African Trevor Prangley. Scores read 30-27 on all three cards.

Jon Fitch dominated most of three rounds against Josh Burkman. The bout ended with a rear-naked choke hold win for Fitch.

In a battle of fan favorites, Jason ?Live Wire? Von Flue lost an exciting three round battle to Luke Cummo.

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