UFC On Fox 2 Post-Fight Press Conference, News And Updates

Saturday night's UFC on Fox 2 broadcast drew a 2.7/5 household overnight rating, according to figures collected by MMA Nation.

The weekend rating was 42-perecent greater than Fox's Saturday night primetime average over the prior four weeks (a 1.9/4 clip). Early estimates have the figures easily claiming the Adults 18-49 demographic, and "may beat ABC, CBS and NBC combined in the Adults 18-34 demographic when national figures are issued tomorrow."

Somewhat surprisingly, ratings flourished as the telecast ventured into deeper waters, despite the generally unappealing nature of the fights. The night's opening bout, Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman, drew a 2.3/4 household overnight rating, which grew to a 2.9/5 for the co-main event, Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping.

Ratings peaked for the night's main event, posting a 3.4/6 mark as Rashad Evans dominated Phil Davis for 25 minutes to earn the next shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Notably, the broadcast drew a 4.1/8 in Las Vegas, 4.1/7 in Louisville, 3.9/7 in Indianapolis, and 3.9/6 in Greenville, Tulsa and Knoxville.

In addition, the two-hour event collected an estimated overnight rating of 4.37 million viewers, according to reports from TVBytheNumbers.com. Though, it should be noted that those numbers are expected to grow as reports are finalized.

The UFC's debut on Fox, November's UFC on Fox: Velaquez vs. Dos Santos, initially averaged an overnight rating of 4.64 million viewers, but ultimately reports shot the final number closer to 5.7 million.

MMA Nation will continue to update these figures as information is made available.

Chael Sonnen clearly planned his post-fight speech in advance because even the utterly shameless Sonnen would not have had the gall to talk himself up after barely slipping past Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2. He won a unanimous decision but announcer Joe Rogan scored the fight for Bisping and 2 out of 3 judges gave Bisping a single round.

UFC on Fox 2 Results: Chael Sonnen defeats Michael Bisping by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Nevertheless, Sonnen went on the microphone after the fight and declared that Joe Rogan should be answering questions about how exciting it must be to be standing next to the great Chael Sonnen. He also said that in the future one-sided beatdowns would be referred to as "Chael Sonnens."

UFC On Fox 2 Results And Play-By-Play

Fans tuning in to the UFC for the first time must have been non-plussed by the incongruity between Sonnen's underwhelming performance in the cage and his overacting after the bout. UFC president Dana White went into tonight's fights with big hopes for setting up a mega-fight between Sonnen and Anderson Silva this summer in a Brazilian stadium.

That fight is still likely to go off, but it remains to be seen how many new fans Sonnen convinced to consider buying a $55 pay-per-view to see more of him.

It may not have been pretty, but Chael Sonnen earned his rematch with Anderson Silva after all.

Sonnen edged Michael Bisping in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 2 on Saturday night, narrowly taking the judge's decision after a surprisingly even 15-minute affair. Next up for the polarizing middleweight: a title shot against Silva, likely to held in a Brazilian soccer stadium this summer. Full video highlights of Sonnen's triumph can be seen below.

For more, catch the play-by-play by MMA Nation's own Luke Thomas.

ROUND 1 - Sonnen charges out and gets a knee tap right away. Bisping stands and presses Sonnen into the fence. Sonnen is southpaw and stalking. Double leg from Sonnen is stuffed and they separate. Outside trip for Sonnen and he's trying to land points as Bisping tries to stand. Bisping eats a few punches as Bisping stands. Bisping drops down for a takedown and can't get it. Bisping keeps his hips close to Sonnen's as they clinch along the fence. Sonnen again drops for the double and it's stuffed. Right hand lands for Sonnen and he's still stalking, but eats a right from Bisping.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Sonnen.

ROUND 2 - Right hand lands form Bisping to open the round. Sonnen clinches and pushes Bisping against the fence, but Bisping turns him around. Referee McCarthy restarts them. Fighters exchanging before Sonnen lands the double. Hard right hand from Bisping, but the Brit stands and fires a hard right hand of his own. Sonnen stuffs a single leg attempt from Bisping and again they're clinched along the fence. Hard elbow from Bisping in the clinch. Fighters throw sloppy punches to close the round.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Bisping.

ROUND 3 - Sonnen starts with a big left hand, ducks under a punch and puts Bisping on his back. Sonnen stands up out of the guard, but doesn't land anything significant. Bisping gets to his knees, but Sonnen has double unders standing behind him. Sonnen has both hooks in and moves to mount. Bisping hip escapes and recaptures half guard. Bisping stands with less than a minute to go and is standing against the fence. Bisping gets a takedown of his own just before the round ended.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Sonnen and the fight 29-28 Sonnen.

UFC on Fox 2 results: Chael Sonnen defeats Michael Bisping by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

It took nearly three years, but the UFC light heavyweight strap is finally within Rashad Evans' grasp.

"Suga" dominated previously unbeaten prospect Phil Davis for five rounds in the main event of UFC on Fox 2 on Saturday night, earning a unanimous decision victory to solidify his claim as the division's number-one contender. Evans is now slated to fight his fiercest rival, UFC champion Jon Jones, at UFC 145 on April 21st, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. Full video highlights of Evan's victory can be seen below.

For more, catch the play-by-play by MMA Nation's own Luke Thomas.

ROUND 1 - Both fighters open orthodox. Davis with a body kick that misses. Hard outside leg kick from Davis and he's basically stalking. And another outside leg kick. Davis slips and they clinch against the fence. Davis tries to duck under a punch, but it's easily stuffed by Evans. Short right hand as Davis stands. Davis shoots again and is stuffed. Evans stand in the pocket and just misses. Superman punch to takedown from Davis misses. Evans catches a kick and trips Davis to the mat. Evans passes to side and now EVans has mounted crucifix. Bucking left and right Davis escapes, but he's still in side control.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Evans.

ROUND 2 -The fighters clinch to start and Davis lands an inside leg kick. Both fighters jabbing but not landing anything of consequence. Davis appears to be breathing heavy already. Evans charges in for a takedown, but can't get it. They clinch briefly, but separate. Davis lands a hard knee to the body, but Evans still doing all the stalking. Evans rips shots to the body and Davis seems a little confused. A little less action this round, but the former champion seems to be in control. Evans catches another kick and moves into side control.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Evans.

ROUND 3 - Davis attempts a single and it's stuffed. Davis trying to secure a takedown against the fence, but it's not doing and Evans is able to stand and puts Davis down. Evans, however, is able to secure a takedown of his late, but Davis continues to press to score points. Most of the damage and action was done by Evans, but he's now breathing hard and Davis was able to score.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Evans.

ROUND 4 - Front kick from Davis to open the frame, but it misses wildly. Body kick from Davis, but Evans is still stalking. Good jabs also from Evans and Davis shooting way from the outside. Davis finding his range with the jab. Pairs up the straight punches. Davis answers with a powerful kick to the body. Neither fighter finds their rangs. Rashad shoots in, gets top position. Davis turtles to his knees, Rashad on his back. Good scramble. Davis gets back to his feet. Evans controlling the cage. Good sprawl by Evans. Rashad lands a hard right.

MMA Nation scores this round 10-9 Evans.

ROUND 5 - Rashad catches Davis' kick and lands several hard punches before Davis falls and now Rashad is on top. Evans passes to side control and into the mounted crucifix. Davis gets out and gives up his back. Davis stands up. Big right by Rashad. Big right hand by Rashad and Davis' legs almost give out. Very hard leg kick by Evans now. Righ hand by Davis. Rashad just misses with a big uppercut and a wild right hand. Right hand by Rashad. 10-9 Rashad, clean sweep.

UFC on Fox 2 results: Rashad Evans def. Phil Davis via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Saturday night's UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis event drew an audience of 17,425 to the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, capturing live gate of $1.2 million. UFC President Dana White confirmed the figures during the UFC on Fox 2 post-fight press conference.

Fans in attendance witnessed a back-and-forth card featuring five decisions, three of which highlighted the sophomore Fox broadcast. In the night's main event, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans outclassed previously unbeaten prospect Phil Davis to claim a five-round unanimous decision.

"I felt like I wanted to put him away, and I just didn't get the chance to land those big punches," Evans said afterward. "I'm kind of disappointed about it. When you're fighting a guy as tough as Phil Davis, sometimes things like that happen."

The UFC's previous trip to Illinois, UFC 90, drew a total gate of $2.85 million and attendance figure of 15,359, headlined by a middleweight tilt between UFC champion Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote.

For complete UFC on Fox 2 post-fight coverage, visit MMA Nation's post-fight press conference stream.

UFC president Dana White endured an anxious night at UFC on Fox 2 while the promotion's fortunes for the first quarter of 2012 hung in the balance. Now that Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen have beaten Phil Davis and Michael Bisping, the UFC will be able to set up two title fights that fans have demanded for a long time: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.

Silva vs. Sonnen will be for the middleweight title and is expected to take place this summer in a Brazilian stadium. Sonnen nearly beat Silva in their first bout at UFC 117 but fell into a submission in the fifth round and lost the fight. Fans clamored for an immediate rematch but Sonnen failed a drug test and got himself suspended for many months. In the mean time, Silva has emerged as a huge star in his native Brazil. Silva's vaunted trash talking is expected to infuriate Brazilian fans.

Jones vs. Evans will headline UFC 145 at Atlanta in April. This is another fight that fans have been wanting for over a year. The two were originally teammates at Greg Jackson's famous gym and had vowed not to ever fight one another. Those vows went out the window when Evans had to bow out of a title shot at UFC 128 and Jones took the opportunity in his stead. Jones demolished then-champion Mauricio Rua to take the title.

Jones and Evans then quickly fell out with one another amidst a flurry of recrimination and trash talking but the UFC has struggled to put the two in the cage for over a year. First Jones pulled out of a scheduled bout for hand surgery that he then didn't have. Then Evans fought Tito Ortiz and hurt his hand again. Jones defeated Lyoto Machida in the interval.

Now UFC fans have something to look forward to.

Debuting a new submission inside the Octagon is usually a good way to grab some bonus cash, as Charles Oliveira found out on Saturday night.

The young Brazilian earned $65,000 for his "Submission of the Night" finish over Eric Wisely on the UFC on Fox 2 undercard. Oliveira blitzed Wisely from the opening bell, landing heavy shots before taking his back and slickly transitioning into a fight-ending calf slicer.

"I was extremely confident and proud going into this fight and I knew that God would be with me," Oliveira proudly said. "My training for this fight has been perfect and I could not wait to show the UFC fans what I am capable of. I have practiced my submissions endlessly and it was easy to look for that opportunity to finish the fight."

Somewhat surprisingly, lightweights Nik Lentz and Evan Dunham also left the arena with a fatter wallet, as each fighter earned $65,000 in bonus money for their two-round "Fight of Night" performance. Despite a pairing that many expected to be lackluster, both men put on a show for the sold-out United Center, standing inside the pocket and trading furious combinations for ten minutes until Lentz, sporting what appeared to be a broken orbital bone, could no longer continue.

"I knew I had his number and I was going to take this fight," Dunham explained. "When I heard the decision that the doctors stopped it, I was a little bummed out. As a fighter, you want to prove to yourself that you can finish the fight. I'll take the W, but I would have preferred to finish it on my terms."

Capping off the night's bonuses, Strikeforce import Lavar Johnson earned "Knockout of the Night" honors for his vicious destruction of Joey Beltran. "Big" controlled much of the opening frame before landing a series of monstrous uppercuts that knocked Beltran out cold.

"This win shows that the Strikeforce heavyweights belong here," Johnson proclaimed. "We're all on the same level and now we're getting a chance to prove it. And the fans are the ones benefitting from it the most because they're getting to see action like this."

As expected, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title in the main event of UFC 145, to be held at the Philips Arena on Saturday, April 21st, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.

UFC officials confirmed the booking during Saturday night's UFC on Fox 2 broadcast.

The last UFC event to held in Atlanta was four years ago, when fans filled the Phillips Arena to witness Rashad Evans blast through Chuck Liddell on September 6th, 2008 at UFC 88.

"Fans in Atlanta have been tweeting me and telling me over and over again to bring the UFC back to their city," UFC President Dana White said. "Well guess what Atlanta? The UFC is coming back to Atlanta with the sport's fastest-rising star, Jon Jones, defending his light heavyweight title!"

An opponent for Jones has yet to be confirmed, however White recently clarified the title picture on Fuel TV's UFC Tonight.

"If Rashad Evans wins (against Phil Davis), and if he doesn't get injured, he will fight Jon Jones," White declared. "He's the guy who gets the shot. He's been waiting a long time, and he's the one who deserves it."

Conversely, if Evans loses or suffers an injury in victory, former Strikeforce and Pride champion Dan Henderson is set to receive the headlining spot opposite Jones. Henderson recently defeated former UFC champion Shogun Rua at UFC 139, in a gutsy contest that many have called one of the greatest fights in UFC history.