UFC 148 undercard results and quotes

John Alessio (right) connects with Shane Roller during a three-round lightweight bout on the undercard of UFC 148 in Las Vegas. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
UFC 148 undercard results and quotes
UFC 148 undercard results and quotes /

John Alessio (right) connects with Shane Roller during a three-round lightweight bout on the undercard of UFC 148 in Las Vegas. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

john-alessio

LAS VEGAS -- A look at the results from Saturday's UFC 148 undercard fights at the MGM Grand Garden Arena:

Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via unanimous decision

Griffin: "I'm going to be linked to Tito forever. We have had three really close fights. He was throwing the kitchen sink at me and I was too tired to get out of the way. It always comes down to fatigue. I don't know who won that fight to be honest. I'm going to need to watch that back."

Ortiz: "Forrest hit me with a little more strikes but that never hurt me. I dropped him a couple of times. I got a little tired. I'm not looking for any excuses — I fought a great fight."

"I put in the work – no excuses. I was at 100%. In my mind I was ready to fight. But Forrest was good, Forrest was tough. He came in to fight. I thought me dropping him would give me more points but I wasn't looking for points – I was looking to knock him out, try to take him down and beat the (expletive) out of him.

He won tonight. Looks like he doesn't have to retire. I was retiring either way. I came in I gave it all – no regrets."

Cung Le def. Patrick Cote via unanimous decision

Le: "This is one the biggest accomplishments in my career. To get my first UFC victory, I'm so happy.

"He came in, he was very tough. I hit him real hard with him some kicks and one time he ducked and I clipped the top of his head. I could have swore I broke my foot but I said I'm going to gut it out and fight to the end because I don't have any give up in me. I wanted to win."

Cote: "I thought it was tricky. I was about to push the pace but he had a lot better footwork than I was expecting."

Demian Maia def. Dong Hyun Kim via first-round TKO

Maia: "It means a lot to win like this because I was having some problems in my camp. I was trying to bring my jiujitsu back so I did it my whole camp and concentrated on takedowns. That's what took me to this point and helped me win tonight."

"It was a great test for me as he had just one loss. It was a great challenge. I'm very happy and I just want to fight again."

Chad Mendes def. Cody McKenzie via first-round TKO

Mendes: "It's very rewarding to go through a long and hard training camp with the best fighters in the world and to get in the Octagon and get it done fast like that. I had seen what he had done in past fights and I was prepared. I'm glad I'm here standing with you."

Mike Easton def. Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision

Easton: "It feels good. I'm very happy for the win. Ivan is an incredible fighter. Usually when I throw my power it offsets everything and I think my strategy helped me come away with the win tonight."

"I want to fight for a belt. That is my goal. I want to keep getting better, keep getting better and keep getting better."

Menjivar: "I realized I didn't put much pressure. The judges gave it to him because he looked more aggressive even though he didn't connect. I was too calm."

Melvin Guillard def. Fabricio Camoes via unanimous decision

Guillard: "I went out – I wanted to fight hard, fight strong and get back in the winning column. I definitely didn't play it safe but I had to be very smart and not get too wild and crazy and get caught. So, I took my last two fights that I lost and broke them down myself. In one (fight), I was too aggressive and the other I was too patient. This fight I wanted to be aggressive enough and still be patient so I think I was successful enough in that area."

Camoes: "I'm disappointed because you always want to step in the cage and win. My mistake was letting the decision go to the judges. I thought it was a good fight and I reached a few good positions, but ultimately, my mistake was that I shouldn't have let it get to the point of going to a judges decision."

Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Gleison Tibau via unanimous decision

Nurmagomedov: "The record wasn't really that important to me. It was more about getting this victory – it was very important. It's my second fight in the UFC. I had to get it."

"I think that my speed, agility and endurance was more to my advantage. He's had a lot more fights than I've had but I'm younger and hungrier."

Tibau: "It was a hard fight. He controlled the fight a little more up against the cage so there were a lot of moments where it was tough to shake him off."

Constantinos Philippou def. Riki Fukuda via unanimous decision

Philippou: "Honestly I couldn't see (following being poked in the eye). But I knew I there was less than three minutes left so I moved around with what I could see out of my right (eye)."

"I had the first two rounds, I was sure. I got a few punches at the end and gave the fans a little bit more but I disappointed them at the beginning. I wanted to finish and give them a bit better fight. Next time I want to give them a better show."

Fukuda: "This was my third fight in the UFC but the worst of the three. I couldn't commit myself to get closer to him and be more aggressive. If I have another chance in UFC, I will be much more aggressive."

Shane Roller def. John Alessio via unanimous decision

Roller: "It was a tough fight. I had to grind it out with him. Wrestling was the game plan but I have been working on my standup. He has good standup, but you know that's part of MMA. It's not a boxing match… He's heavy handed and a pretty big guy and I felt his hands had good power."

"I approach every fight as a must-win. All my fights are pretty exciting fights."

Rafaello Oliveira def. Yoislandy Izquierdo via unanimous decision

Oliveira: "That was awesome. I came from two losses in a row so there was a bit of pressure and I had a broken hand after my last fight."

"I want to keep coming through and I love this event, UFC 148. I'm really happy and grateful for this fight. His stand up was really good, but you know, you have 15 minutes to go in there and just do it it, so that is what I tried to do. Now I just want to get healthy and enjoy my family."

Izquierdo: "The way I look at it is I need to go back and work at my ground game. I need to put on more muscle because guys in the UFC seem to be stronger."

-- SI.com staff


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