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Welcome to the UFC 88 "Breakthrough" PPV Recap, live from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.. We'll be getting underway in just a few minutes. If you have not checked out the preliminary match results, perhaps you should do so now before the action gets started!

Mike Goldberg introduces us to the show after we run the promos. Goldberg runs down the rise, fall and rise again of Chuck Liddell. Joe Roegan comes in and discusses the strenghts of Rashad Evans. Fans can vote at UFC.com or texting their vote to 88822 as to who will win the main event. We run down the rest of the lineup and then get started with our first match!

Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Well, I missed the whole first round because my feed went down. :-( From the way they're talking, it sounded like Kim used up a lot of energy, but the bout was scored unanimously 10-9 for Kim.

Rount two, Kim comes out with some jumping knees, knocks Brown to the mat, lets him up, Kim with some Muay Thai knees, charges Brown but Brown doesn't go down, gets jammed up on the fence. Brown turns things around and is preventing Kim from taking him down. Brown gets the advantage, putting Kim on the fence with knees to the midsection, Kim looks like he is fading fast. Kim tries for the rubber guard, Brown backs out and lets Kim kick away. Brown tries for a spinning back fist over the top of the legs to try to take Kim out of his game. Kim wraps his legs around Brown's waist, but Brown is getting inside and landing his punches. Brown finally lets Kim up with 90 seconds left in the mat, they lock backup, Brown goes itno the clinch, Kim turns it around and puts Brown on the side of the cage. Brown with some knees puts Kim back on the fence. Kim has Brown's left arm hemmed up. Brown is starting to look spent as well, and the fans are booing this, 55 seconds left in the fight. Brown lands a nice punch combination, tries for a few low kicks. Kim surges forward with a right jab, Brown sidesteps it and takes him down to the mat with 30 seconds left. Brown is looking for an arm triangle, but can't get his left leg free to secure it in, so he backs out and rains down elbows and punches to the head and side until the horn. Round 2 was scored 10-9 unanimous for Brown.

We start round three in a dead heat, Brown is dancing around the ring, looking confident, Kim just look tired. Brown ducks a left from Kim and tries with a few missed kicks. Referee stops the fight when Brown realizes he forgot his mouthpiece. 4:30 left in the fight, Brown ducks a few more swings, tries for a leg kick that almost gets caught. Brown tries for a Superman punch but misses. Kim shoots and gets side control on Brown, tries to get mount but Brown wiggles out at 3:30 left in the match. Brown puts Kim on his feet and back up against the side of the octagon. Kim tries for a throw, blocked by Brown and Kim is put back on the fence. Brown has a leg hooked at 2:35 left, picks his shots to the body. Kim lands a big left elbow that turns the ide, Kim double underhooks Brown and tries to take him down, Brown is able to stop it for a moment, Kim finally takes him back down with 1:50 left. Brown closes his guard, has his legs wrapped tightly around Kim, not allowing him much room to land blows. 55 seconds left the referee warns them that they'll be stod up if they don't advance. Brown appears to be trying for a triangle from the bottom, Kim lands some big elbows that cut Brown open, he's bleeding badly from his right eye. Brown scrambles, 15 seconds left he's trying for the triangle, Kim is fighting him all the way to the end. It looks to me that Kim is going to win this one by decision, but we'll wait for the official word.

Your winner, by split decision... Dong Hyun Kim. 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 is the official scoring. The fans are not happy with the decision. Kim says he hates to win by decision, he promises that he will be better next time. Joe Roegan asks Kim if he was surprised he couldnt' finish Brown after a choke in Round 1, Kim says that Brown was very tought and strong, he just couldn't finish him. Kim and Brown tap gloves and hug in the middle of the ring. Roegan asks Brown how much danger he felt he was in from that rear choke, Brown said that he was in danger for just a moment. Brown says he doesn't fight for judges or decision, he loves to fight and he does it for the fans.

We start to play the video of Liddell and Evans arriving in the arena, but some technical difficulties ensue and we fade back out to the arena. We then play the promos for Nathan Marquardt and Martin Kampmann.

Martin Kampmann (13-1-0, 184.5 lbs) vs. Nathan Marquardt (29-8-2, 185 lbs)

Goldberg and Roegan call this an equally-matched bout, both men are well-trained, focused and have a lot of experience. Both men test each other with kicks, Marquardt with a big knee strike at 4:05 left, lays in some elbows and knees, putting Kampmann on the fence early, big uppercuts, body shots, Kampmann slumps in the corner at about 3:40 left in the round, referee Mario Yamasaki stops this fight! Marquardt with a dominating display.

Your winner by TKO at 1:22 of Round 1, Nate "the Great" Marquardt. Roegan in the ring asks what his gameplan was for the night, Marquardt said he was advised to just stand up and fight the game that Kampmann was going to bring. Asked to go through his fight, Marquardt talks about how he tried to keep his composure and make sure he was landing his shots once he was in a dominating position.

Uriah Faber and a few other of the WEC fighters were highlighted in the crownd. WEC 36 was cancelled this weekend due to the possible arrival of Hurricane Ike, the show has been rescheduled for November 5th in Hollywood, FL. We roll the promos for
Dan Henderson and Rousimar Palhares next.

Dan Henderson (22-7-0185 lbs) vs. Rousimar Palhares (17-1-0, 184.5 lbs)

Goldberg and Roegan go apeshit over the fact that Palhares has only taken six strikes in his last six matches and has completely dominated his last six fights by TKO. They also play up the fact that Henderson throws power strikes and has never been KOed, but he needs this win tonight for his career. Your referee is Herb Deano for this match. Otkast's Big Boi is spotted in the crowd.

We tap gloves and we're underway with Round 1, both fighters taking their time to size each other up, Palhares tries for a strike, Henderson backs up and then throws a half-dozen bombs and backs off before Palhares tries to tie up his legs. 4:05 left, Palhares shoots again, trying for a strike, Henderson scrambles out of the way to avoid it. Palhares with a high kick to the head, tries for a right strike, Henderson again backs off and easily evades. Henderson finally throws a strong right, glances Palhares. Palhares with a body kick, tries with the right again, but slips and falls to his back. Palhares with a wheel kick, Henderson ducks it, Palhares with the right jab, tries for the shoot, Henderson brushes him aside. 2:45 left in Round 1, Henderson is being very patient, Palhares tries for a kick, Henderson backs out. Henderson with a pair of jabs, Pahlares with a right that grazes Henderson's head. 2:05 Palhares throws a kick, misses, fans start to boo the fighters for not having more action. Palhares shoots in with a series of strikes, Henderson throws him down, drops some bombs, and then backs right back out to avoid the legs. Palhares gets up and is throwing kicks all over the place KUNG FU FIGHTING! But do any of them hit Henderson? NO. 1:20 left in the round, Henderson is back in his stance, waiting to explode. Palhares with a left jab, Henderson responds with a left jab of his own. Palhares shoots in with a few more wild swings, takes Henderson down but lands on top and on his back. Palhares moves around to gain side control, 20 seconds left, Palhares moves into half guard to try to break Henderson's grip. Henderson isn't letting Palhares do anything, but just as the horn sounds Palhares finds a kneebar, but he has to break it! Judges score it unanimously 10-9 for Henderson.

Round two we see the fighters feelign each other out, Palhares tries for a kick at 4:25, puts Henderson on the cage, but he evades. Palhares with a shoot and a BIG SLAM at 4:10, Henderson is on his back, he goes into closed guard, Palhares is on his feet trying to do something, he's got a heel hook at 3:25! Henderson wiggles free, Palhares tries to re-apply it but Henderson gets away clean, but limping now at the 3:00 mark. Palhares shoots, Henderson goes over his back and locks in a front face choke, Palhares rolls over and Henderson lets it go after a strike. Palhares with a kick, then shoots, Henerson again stuffs him, mounts him and puts Palhares in guard. 1:35 left we see Palhares looks to be setting up a leg lock from underneath. Referee stands them up at 50 seconds left for not advancing their positions. We spend the next 20 seconds sizing each other up again, henderson with a few jabs, Palhares with a kick that doesn't connect, another kick, Henderson retaliates with his own kick right at the horn. Judges score it 10-9, 10-9, 9-10 for Henderson.

So we start Round 3 with Palhares being down, needing to come up with something big. Henderson's corner is telling him to be patient. Palhares shoots in, Henderson tries to back out, Palhares catches him with a spinning heel kick coming out of it. Henderson gingerly tries for a few more kicks. Palhares with a heel hook kick at 3:47, Henderson ducks it and backs off, lands a few jabs in retaliation. Palhares tries to take him down, Henderson with the sprawl again, Palhares again shoots, Henderson blocks him again. Henderson moves in and drops a strong right followed by a left, Palhares shakes it off and puts in a few rights of his own over the top. Henderson keeps working with picking his shots, mostly strong right hands that are connecting, Palhares doesn't look too shaken. Palhares with a kick at 2:25 left, fans are booing the match again. Hederson is starting to increase the number of punches he's throwing, looking to shore up his win, he isn't being rushed at all. Fans REALLY start to boo at 1:50, Palhares isn't doing anything. Henderson moves in and throws several punches. Palhares finally surges forward and takes Henderson down, but to no avail, Henderson escapes it easily. Henderson throws a big punch at 50 seconds, Palhares shoots and takes the leg, Henderson pulls out quickly, Palhares can't keep it locked in. 20 seconds left, Palhares shoots for the leg again, has it, Henderson once again escapes. 10 seconds, Henerson drops a right, Palhares is down, Henderson goes in for the finish droping lefts and rights, but doesn't gets it, the horn sounds, but that should be enough! We go to the judges for the decision.

Your winner, by unanimous decision, Dan Henderson. 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 is the scoring from the judges. Henderson apologies for not being more aggressive, thought this was a good matchup but is looking for a bigger challenge next time. Asked about the leg locks and the heel hook, Henderson said none of them were locked in, although he didn't want to sit around and wait for Palhares to advance it.

Joe Roegan is at ringside with the UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Coture. Roegan congratulates Coture on his return to the UFC, asks him about his upcoming match against Brock Lesnar. Coture says it will be interesting, this is his first wrestler he's faces since Kevin Randelman. He complements Lesnar on moving as fast as he does for his size. Coture says that he isn't intimidated by Lesnar, it isn't Lesnar's freakish size or speed that inspires him, but simply the challenge of the fight. That fight happens on November 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

Tim Boetsch (7-2-0, 205 lbs) vs. Michael Patt (15-2-0, 205 lbs)

A preliminary fight from earlier in the evening, Michael Patt has a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing expert with 11 first-round wins, he took this fight on a last-minute notice, replacing James Lee. Boetsch is familiar with taking a fight on a moment's notice, it's how he made his break into UFC. Boetsch is a practicioner of Bruce Lee's Jeet-Kun-Do, who has won all of his fights bu TKOs and submissions and uses an unorthodoxed stand-up fight. Herb Dean is the referee controlling the action in the octagon.

Boetsch throws around a few kicks early, but Patt isn't letting him get far with it. Boetsch shoots in, Patt blocks him and they keep each other tight, trying to find position. Boetsch with a few jabs followed by a body kick, 3:35 left in the round. 3:03 Boetsch with a big right hands, moves in and drops bombs, bloodies up Patt's mouth, Herb Dean moves in and stops it. Patt throws up his hands, can't believe the match is stopped. On replay we watch Boetsch throw a left that makes Patt step back, followed by the right that knocks him on his ass, then Boetsch moves in and finishes him off, Patt couldn't defend himself.

Your winner, Tim Boetsch at 2:03 of Round 1 by TKO. Not much to the match, but dominating. After going through the upcoming live events for UFC, we run the promos for Matt Hamill and Rich Franklin.

Matt Hamill (6-1-0, 205 lbs) vs. Rich Franklin (6'1", 204.5 lbs)

This is our co-main event for the evening, three rounds 5 minutes each. Mario Yamasaki is our referee as the two Cincinnati, OH natives go at it. Franklin with a few test kicks to start us out, Hamill backing away. Hamill has to check his corner for hand signals, since he is deaf and cannot ear the instructions as other fighers do. Hamill changes his stance around the 3:40 mark, and he lands a few punches, Franklin answers back with inside leg kicks. Goldberg is a little concerned about Franklin throwing some many kicks knowing that he's trying to prevent takedown opportunities from a strong wrestler like Hamill. Hamill throws punches, one of them cutting open Franklin under his right eye. 1:55 left in the round, Franklin still working the inside leg kick, Hamill responds with some nice lefts and rights. Franklin tries for an uppercut followed by an inside leg kick. 1:00 left in the round, Franklin is starting to push Hamill towards the cage, Hamill is suckering him in though as he shoots in and takes him down, Franklin is ready for it and tries to lock in an armbar, Hamill escapes at 30 seconds, Hamill backs out but Franklin with a nice knee, cutting Hamil open on his right eyebrow. Franklin with one last kick as Round 1 ends.

We tap gloves to start Round 2, Franklin with a good inside leg kick, but Hamill catches it, Franklin is able to pull it out, moves in for some jabs, another kick, this time to the head, a few more punches, another kick to the head, some more punches, and a low leg kick. 4:10 left in the match, Mario Yamasaki pauses the fight, apparently concerned about a flap of skin over Rich Franklin's eye, doctor checks it out and says it's okay to continue. 3:55 Franklin throws a leg, Hamill catches it, Franklin rains down some punches to break it. Hamill is throwing some more combinations now, connecting with a few uppercuts, Franklin with a kick to the chin, kick to the head, kick to the shins, at at 3:09 we pause the fight after Franklin square kicks Hamill in the package accidently, giving him time to shake it off. After a short breather, Hamill continues, Franklin with a high kick and some punch combinations, Hamill throws his own punches, Franklin backs out, sets up and charges again, Hamill tries to shoot, Franklin keeps him standing up, goes for the clinch on the cage for a moment before they break and go back to the middle of the ring. 2:15 left in the round, Franklin is starting to open up with the punches and kicks, dominating Hamill as we see him starting to limp. Hamill is not deterred, keeping his poker face and not backing down, however. Franklin continues to switch things up with the punch combinations followed by a kick. Hamill grabs a leg at the 55 second mark, tries to box, but Franklin is able to escape. 20 seconds, Hamill gets the leg again after a kick, Frankling wiggles his way out, goes back to the punches, 8 seconds tries for a flying knee, Hamill side steps it, Franklin with one last jab as the horn sounds for the end of Round 2. We see a huge chunk of Franklin's eyelid is missing as they slab the jelly over it.

Final round, Hamill looks to be losing this fight, Roegan notes that the legkicks may have taken too much energy out of Hamill's game. Franklin with a leg kick to the midsection that puts Hamill on the ground, Franklin moves in quickly to throw punches and the referee moves right in and stops this fight! We throw the replays, Hamill actually covered up to avoid the kick to the head, the kick lands shin-first square in his gut, Hamill went down and tapped just as Franklin got to him.

Your winner by TKO at 39 seconds of Round Three, Rich Franklin. Roegan asked Franklin about the cut over his eye, Franklin says he felt fine, he sees what he looks like on the screens now, but since he walks around with a black eye all the time, so it doesn't look any worse. Asked about his future in the Light Heavyweight division, Franklin says that if Hamill represents what is to come, Franklin realizes he's going to be in trouble with a long line of competitors who want a piece of him. Franklin thanks Hamill for putting up a great fight.

Chuck Liddell (21-5-0, 204 lbs) vs. Rashad Evans (16-0-1, 205 lbs)

The fan voting is in, 81% of the fans predict that Liddell is going to kill Evans. Goldberg and Roegan break down each man by the numbers, Evans takes his opponents down to the mat 62% of the time, way above the UFC average, but Liddell takes his opponents down 85% of the time. Evans feels that this is going to be a brawl from start to finish, Liddell says that he has never been intimidated by an opponent. Bruce Buffer with the introductions in the ring, Herb Dean is our referee for the main event of three rounds. Dean calls both men to the center of the ring for the instructions, they touch gloves and go back to their corners.

Round 1 starts out with both men circling the cage, dancing around, but Liddell starts to back Evans up, finally goes for a few easy punches. We're a minute in, I was expecting Liddell to already have this fight over with, oh well, good thing I didn't make a bet with Lady J ;-) ... Evans connects with a punch around the 3:20 mark, Liddell with a SOLID right that puts Evans on the cage, but he comes right back. Evans with a body kick, Chuck didn't feel it though, I don't think. Chuck misses with a big right, Evans is starting to look a little cocky as the fans start chanting "CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK!" Under two minutes in the round, Evans with some nice, simple jabs, followed by a leg kick, and moving out of the way of some of Liddell's punches. Under one minute now, we haven't seen much out of Evans, but some how managed to cut open Liddell under his eye just slightly. Evans tries for an inside leg kick with 30 seconds, Chuck tags him with a right, starts to move in and is a little more aggressive, keeping Evans on the move. Liddell throws a kick at five seconds, goes for another high kick to the head as the horn sounds. Liddell has a nice swelling going on under his right eye now.

Round 2 starts out with about the same lazy pace for the first 30 seconds, Evans suddenly trying to open up with a flurry of punches, but Liddell hangs right with him and lands some heavy blows that makes Evans thinks twice, at least for the moment. Evans is dancing around the ring a little, showboating, catches Liddell with a left hook and a right hand, a little more dancing, another left hook, followed by a right hook. 3:20 left in the round. Liddell is still taking it easy and picking his shots, BIG UPPERCUT FROM EVANS, LIDDEL IS KOED OUT COLD!! "Like a lightning bolt out of nowhere!" says Joe Roegan, he took the words right out of my mouth. WOW, you watch the replay, Evans faked a left jab, Liddell tries to respond with the uppercut right, Evans pulls back just slightly as he throws his own right over the top that connects. Rashad Evan's wife is apparently sitting behind Joe Roegan and his screaming in shock and excitement.

Your winner at 1:51 of Round 2, the winner by knockout, "Sugar" Rashad Evans. Roegan is in the ring with the interview, Evans says he hope Liddell is okay, because it was a big shot. Evans says that his gameplan was to just take Liddell head-on, "by the horns", because there was no other way to fight him. UFC President Dana White is in the ring to congratulate Evans on his win, then we see him check in on Liddell with his trainer.

The BSN "Finish First" Turning Point of the Night award goes to Rich Franklin, enduring a serious eye injury to finish his fight. We'll close out tonight's show with another preliminary fight.

Jason MacDonald vs. Jason Lambert

MacDonald moves in immediately with punches, takes Lambert down tothe mat, but he locks in a Guillotine choke immediately and keeps it held there for nearly a minute before releasing an arm to try to move itno full guard, MacDonald uses that to pop out of it and try to pass the guard, but winds up in full guard. Under three minutes left in the round, MacDonald just works the body with punches, under two minutes starts throwing in elbows. MacDonald's corner warns him to watch for the Triangle Choke, and he just continues to throw elbows and punches, slowly working his game. Lambert is finally able to pull out the Guillotine Choke with 15 seconds left, he's locked in tight, MacDonald starts throwing punches to try to break it, the horn sounds to end the round.

Round 2 starts out with a slugfest, MacDonald with a takedown, this time avoiding the choke. Lambert warps his legs around MacDonald's right leg, but MacDonald passes guard and goes to full mount, Lambert rolls over and gives up his back, MacDonald has the body triangle and locks it in! After 20 seconds Lambert taps out to the Rear Naked Choke!

Winner at 1:20 of Round 2 by a Rear Naked Choke submission, Jason MacDonald. And for that effort, MacDonald picks up the Tapout Submission of the Night award.

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That wraps up our coverage of tonight's coverage of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Join us back here on Sunday night for the WWE "Unforgiven" PPV with Stevie J, followed by the Kayfabe 4 Dummies podcast on BlogTalk Radio.