Portland, OR - 16,088 people packed the Rose Garden Arena to watch the first ever UFC to come to the Pacific Northwest. Headlining was former Portland resident and Northwest native, "The Natural" Randy Couture, & former Pride and UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. The main event was everything hardcore fans expected from these two legends of MMA with constant back and forth action and both fighters landing huge punches to the roar of the crowd.

Nogueira rocked Randy in the first and had him defending an anaconda choke for a while, but Couture escaped and the crowd went nuts. Couture finished the round strong and used dirty boxing to score inside at the end of round one. Randy worked his magic again in round two when he escaped a head and arm choke while mounted as the crowd came alive and my hearing went out the window. Couture finished strong getting the better of the stand up and landing some signature dirty boxing, but the Minotauro wasn't letting this one slip away. Big Nog came out strong in the third round counter punching and dropped Couture cold once again making Randy scramble to stay in the fight. But stay in the fight he did, and while trying to get to his feet Couture gives up his back then reverses Nog to start some ground and pound landing a couple good elbows while inside Nog's guard. Nog sweeps Randy at the end of the third round and the fight ends, great ending to an epic fight. Nogueira earned a unanimous decision victory and moves up in the rankings for another shot at UFC gold. Both fighters earned $60,000 bonuses for the Fight of The Night.

American Top Team stand out Thiago Silva made short work of Keith Jardine dropping Jardine with a solid left hook. Silva sealed the deal with a couple more punches on the ground to put Jardine to sleep at 1:35 in the first round. Silva coming off his only loss in his professional career to current UFC 205lb Champion Lyota Machida, puts his name back in the bowl of title shot contenders with a highlight reel KO.

KO of the night honors went to Nate "The Great" Marquardt for knocking out jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia in 21 seconds. Maia attempted a high kick as Nate fired a right hand that put the BJJ expert mid air. Nate went to finish up, but knew it was over and stopped quickly earning the win; and a nice $60,000 dollar bonus for KO of the night. Now the question is who's next up for 185lb title shot against the unstoppable Anderson Silva: Nate or Dan Henderson?

NCAA Champion wrestler Jake Rosholt silenced the crowd defeating hometown favorite Chris Leben. Leben coming off a suspension looked slower and more patient awaiting the take down. Yet it was Leben scoring the first take down and more; unfortunately Leben couldn't get anything done with the position. As the fight wore on Leben started lunging with lefts, and Rosholt started getting takedowns. Jake takes Chris's back in transition and moves to side mount were he secured a head and arm choke, tightening it as Leben went to tap and then went out cold. Final time 1:35 of the third round

Former teammate of Leben Ed "Short Fuse" Herman got the worst of the medical suspensions given out by the Oregon State Athletic Commission following the event. Herman was suspended indefinitely pending an MRI of his knee that was injured in his bout against Aaron Simpson. Simpson, an ASU wrestling superstar, is still undefeated in MMA action and took it to Herman the first round with super quick takedowns and hard punches from standing.

Simpson landed a right hand and took Ed down. Once the fight hit the ground you could see Herman scream in pain and reach for his left knee as he eats a couple shots from Simpson. Herman weathered the storm to the end of the round, and came out limping in the second. After a high kick attempt, Herman fell to the ground and referee Yves Lavigne called a stop to the fight at 17 seconds of round two. 

Todd Duffee earned the fastest KO in UFC history by dropping Tim Hague with a jab and finishing him with a couple more shots on the ground ending the fight in 7 seconds and making a huge statement in his first fight In the UFC.

Brandon "The Truth" Vera earned a unanimous decision victory over Team Quest fighter Krzystof Sozynski. Krzystof worked in the clinch and pressed the fight, but Vera used a south paw stance and quick in and out stand up circling Krzystof landing shots. Vera's counterpunching and kicks made the difference in this fight, plus his ability to not be kept on the ground.

Gabriel Gonzaga had a rough start against UFC newcomer and Brock Lesner pupil, Chris Tuchscherer. Gonzaga landed a low kick right to the groin of Chris, and the debuting UFC fighter fell to the ground. It took several minutes for Tuchscherer to find his breath and feet again, but to his credit he still fought on. The fight didn't last much longer though, as the big Brazilian destroys Tuchscherer with a huge leg kick to the head and drops him, then jumps on him pounding and mounting until referee Dave Hagen ref saved Tuchscherer at 2:27 of the first round.

Eugene, Oregon native and Extreme Couture fighter, Evan Dunham, came in as an underdog in his home state with his friends and family behind him and walked out the arena with another UFC win and a goose egg in the loss column. Dunham started the fight with a smile and as he landed shots he smiled even more.

Evan fought his toughest opponent yet in Veteran Pride & UFC fighter Marcus Aurelio. Aurelio, a jiu-jitsu expert from American Top Team, went at Dunham with strikes, take downs, submission attempts, and Dunham just kept coming. Evan started outstriking Marcus and shucking takedowns, continually smiling and pumping up the crowd at the end of each round. For everyone who attended, Evan Dunham set the pace for what will go down as the biggest MMA show to hit Oregon, and some of the best fights in '09.