Evan Dunham spoke with NW Fightscene from Eugene about his August 29th win over Marcus Aurelio via Split Decision at UFC 102 in the first fight of the night...

NW Fightscene: Tell us your thoughts on your performance.
Evan Dunham: I was really happy with my performance. The fight kind of went and played out just like I thought it was. I know Aurelio is a very tough fighter and that he is pretty much impossible to finish. He hasn't been finished yet. Well I kind of had an idea that it was gonna go the distance so I could stay off my back and stay safe from the submissions, I know I could get the better of him on the feet and that's pretty much how it played out.

NWFS: During the fight, he attempted a number of takedowns and you were able to avoid most of them, and your cardio looked great all three rounds...
Dunham: I felt my cardio was really good going into the fight. I thought he was going to be at a much higher level than he was, but he kept the pace up pretty good. I was actually pretty surprised that he was able to hang with me for so long cardio wise, but I think that towards the end he was running a little bit low on the gas tank and when I saw that it kind of gave me the extra oomph... being down at Randy's gym, they've got a lot of good wrestlers down there so I was pretty confident I could stuff the majority of his shots.

NWFS: You seemed to be enjoying the fight, smiling throughout. Tell us about that.
Dunham: Oh yeah, I was just having a good time in Oregon and I was just trying to make the most of it. Being the first fight of the night, I knew it was on my shoulders to get the crowd going and that's what I was trying to do. I love to fight and the more it turns into a war, the better. I really like to exchange and when things get tough that's when I feel I thrive.

NWFS: It was a split decision where the judges were kind of all over, 29-28, 28,29, 30-27. What are your thoughts on the decision?
Dunham: I hate to leave fights in the judges hands because you can never really predict what's going to happen. So I wasn't surprised that it was a split decision, especially after going back and watching the fight. He did do a good job. He probably won that third round, and the second round was a close one, but I do know I won the second and the first for sure. But you know, you can never predict what's the judges are going to say so I was a little bit worried going into the decision. But I was pretty confident at the same time that I did have it in the bag, that I was able to win over at least two of the three judges. 

NWFS: What'd you do after the fight?
Dunham: ...The good thing about being first is that you got a whole show coming up to watch so first thing I did was grab a beer and got a seat and enjoyed the rest of the show.

NWFS: Did you have any talks with the UFC about what's coming up for you?
Dunham: I have not. But I'm ready for whatever they throw at me. I'm looking forward to fighting again, I'd love to fight again before the end of the year. That'd be awesome. But I know there's a lot of guys in line for minimum spots right now in upcoming shows. I haven't heard yet but I'm pretty much ready to jump back in there whenever I can.

NWFS: Anyone you'd like to thank?
Dunham: My sponsors: Clinch Fighter, One Shot, Black Lotus Tattoo, Darkside Window Tinting/MJS. All my training partners at Extreme Couture, and Team Megaton, and Legion Jiu-jitsu. And especially my coaches Shawn Tompkins and Ben Baxter. And all the fans that were at the show. They showed a lot of support. I love everyone in Portland and Oregon for supporting me the way they do.

NW Fightscene would like to thank Evan for his time in doing this interview.

Fans wanting to hit him up on his MySpace page can do so HERE