It was a mixed bag of results for the bouts on the UFC on FOX 4 preliminary card, which aired live on Fuel TV prior to the main card broadcast on FOX, and in terms of action, the six bouts delivered.
- In the first fight of the evening, flyweight scrapper John Moraga utilized his well-credentialed wrestling chops to prevent jiu-jitsu specialist Ulysses "Useless" Gomez from bringing the fight to the ground, and once Moraga found his groove on the feet, he lit Gomez up with a storm of short punches and elbows against the cage.� Gomez crumbled under the onslaught, giving Moraga the win via knockout at 3:46 of the first round.
- In featherweight action, dueling judoka Manvel Gamburyan and Michihiro Omigawa took turns blasting each other in the striking exchanges ? Gamburyan dinging the Japanese fighter with a flying knee, a well-timed high-kick, and various punches, Omigawa tagging the Armenian with a torrent of jabs and crosses.� But the TUF 5 runner-up found success with his takedowns, and though Omigawa was usually back up in an instant, points were scored.� When time ran out, the judges gave Gamburyan the well-deserved unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
- Heavyweight Brit Oli Thompson may have had the advantage in terms of muscle, but fellow UK product Phil De Fries seemed unfazed.� Rocking Thompson in the first with a decent portion of fist-salad, De Fries established early on just how dangerous he could be, and when he began mixing in an aggressive ground assault, for Thompson things went from bad to worse.� The ending sequence came when De Fries got his foe down, secured back-control and applied a face crank; Thompson tapped out at 4:16 of Round Two.
- Featherweight Josh Grispi needed a win in his return bout against jiu-jitsu expert Rani Yahya, but he made the mistake of playing the Brazilian's game and it cost him.� From takedown to guard pass to North/South choke submission, it was all Yahya, and Grispi was forced to tap out at 3:15 of the first round.
- The light-heavyweight contest between wrestler Phil Davis and Brazilian Muay Thai specialist Wagner Prado ended in the most unsatisfying way possible.� In one of the first full-fledged striking exchanges on the feet, Davis accidentally put his fingers in Prado's eye.� Prado was instantly in pain, and the blood around his eye was enough for the doctor to call it.� The bout was rendered a "no decision" at 1:28 of Round One.
- The "main event" of the preliminary card, which saw ultra-tough featherweights Cole Miller and Nam Phan throw down, did not disappoint in terms of pace and violence.� Eschewing their vast collective jiu-jitsu experience for the opportunity to stand and box, Miller and Phan battered each other relentlessly for all three rounds.� In the first, Phan quickly overcame Miller's sizeable reach advantage to repeatedly land a vicious left hook to the chin. But Miller made adjustments by the time Round Two rolled around, and his straight rights began knocking Phan's head back over and over again.� The final frame saw no abatement in the dogfight, and when time ran out, the judges gave the split decision to Phan (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-4-preliminary-card-rundown-001722294--mma.html
