Welcome to our live coverage of UFC 89 from the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

We’ll be covering the prelim fights prior to tonight’s show going live on Setanta Sports  here in the UK at 8pm BST (3pm EST) as well as covering the big fights of the night throughout the evening.

If you’ve not already done so, if you check out the front page of the site for all the build to tonight’s show, headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben and as always, we’re looking for your feedback on the show via our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/ifight365 or at phil@ifight365.com.

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Be sure to refresh this page over the next few hours for the latest from tonight’s show!

- Samy Schiavo vs. Per Eklund. Eklund gets the win in the third round via rear naked choke. Schiavo looked good early and took the first after some good strikes. Eklund had the second and could have won it with an armbar. The crowd are hot and were really into this. Real good fight. Time: 1min 47 in the third.

- David Baron vs. Jim Miller. Miller takes the first round. Baron looks a little nervous out there but has looked good with defence. Miller attempts a rear naked choke at the close of the round. Miller with a takedown early in round two in front of a crowd that have had the life knocked out with them already after being hot for the opener. Baron is cut open from a wild elbow. Baron looks strong towards the end and finishes on top, but Miller takes the round.

Takedown by Miller in the third and a big kick. Miller by far the better of the two. He eventually locks on the rear naked choke and gets the win half-way through the third. Time: 3min 19 in the third.

- Terry Etim vs. Sam Stout. Etim gets a good ovation as the first Brit in action this evening. Close opener. Etim lands some good blows as crowd chants for him. Stout gets back into the bout with some stiff punches and a takedown. Similar second round, Stout perhaps shades it. He’s not connecting with as many shots as he should be. Etim connects with a sweet left hook and finishes with a takedown. Stout is tiring at the end of the second.

Etim with a kick to the head early in the third. Both men staying on their feet and looking to connect with a winning blow. Stout responds with some good combinations but Etim fights back with some good kicks. It goes to the judges. The crowd think Etim has it, but its a close call. Etim takes it 29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

- David Bielkheden beat Jess Liaudin by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Shane Carwin beat Neil Wain via TKO at 1min 31 of round one.

- Dan Hardy vs. Akihiro Gono is the final prelim bout of the evening. I can see this being shown on TV later purely for Gono’s Michael Jackson-esque entrance. Entrances for both guys are probably the most over thing on the card so far. Even first round, too close to call. Hardy is showing a strong defence and both fighters landing some hard kicks. Second round was just as close. Its almost impossible to call a winner from this so far. Gono ducked out of the way of a couple of massive punches from Hardy to end the round. Crowd are really behind Hardy here. Both men land big lefts. Hardy nails Gono with an illegal shot to the groin. Ouch. They fight on, Hardy is taken down. Gono hits two illegal knees to the head. Hardy fights back and levels Gono with a left that floors him. This goes to the judges, that left may well have swung it. And it has! Hardy wins via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Prelim fights out of the way, we’re live!

- Paul Kelly vs. Marcus Davis. Real hot crowd as both fighters enter the Octagon. Cautious start to the opening round. Davis hits a couple of nice body kicks. Kelly hits a left hand before Davis takes him down. Kelly escapes and gets back to his feet with relative ease. First round to Davis.

Kelly comes out swinging in the second but he’s yet to really connect. Davis looking way more likely to do damage thus far. As I write that, Kelly gets a takedown but Davis locks in the guillotine choke. Its over. Winner via tapout at 2min 16 in round two: Marcus Davis. Davis looked really good.

Afterwards, Davis put over the UK fans and said he made a friend in Kelly. He asked Dana to include him in the card for Ireland in the New Year. Kelly put over Davis but was clearly gutted by the loss.

- Paul Taylor vs. Chris Lytle. Explosive start. Really awesome. Both guys landing some seriously hard shots. Lytle with a takedown but Taylor got straight back up from it. Taylor connected with an elbow and a good short punch but Lytle looking good. Taylor connected with a big right hand to close the round. Fairly even, Lytle shades it for me.

Round two started in the same way the first did. Lytle landed a flurry of punches. Lytle with a takedown but Taylor reversed it before both got back to their feet. Lytle connected with a left kick before Taylor hit a takedown. Both men back to their feet again and looking to land a knockout punch. Taylor caught Lytle low with a kick. Lytle actually looks to have ran out of steam a little. Another close round, Lytle again comes out on top.

Lytle lays into Taylor with some huge punches to the head and body. Taylor is taking a hell of a lot here. Lytle slipped when trying to land a punch and Taylor looked to gain an advantage for a second. Taylor connected with a right hand and a huge uppercut. Lytle fought back with a shot before they saw the round out. Awesome fight. Lytle has to take it on decision for me. Judges decision: Chris Lytle by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).

- Sokoudjou v Luiz Cane. Sokoudjou has his knee strapped up heavily. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him as he connects with a couple of kicks early and some nice combinations. Cane with a nice body kick of his own but Sokoudjou is in control and connects with a big right hand. The pace slows after Sokoudjou’s fast-paced start to the round. Cane hits a good kick to the body and follows it up with a knee. Good first round, Sokoudjou takes it.

Sokoudjou takes a kick to the groin at the start of the second. Its what us Brits would have called a “toddy-ender” when we were kids.  Cane hits a big kick. Sokoudjou looks as if he’s running out of gas in the tank but Cane is yet to do any serious damage. Sokoudjou connects with a body kick and later a right hand. Cane connects with a knee. There’s a few boos coming from the crowd which is harsh. Cane connects with another big knee and a hard left hand. Sokoudjou’s leg gives way and he’s down. Cane lays into him with a flurry of punches, and this one is over. Winner at 4 min 15 in round two via TKO: Luiz Cane.

- Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain from earlier tonight is being shown on TV at this point.

- Keith Jardine v Brandon Vera. Jardine with a takedown seconds into the bout. This is a massive fight for Vera. Jardine has a huge cut on the top of his head already. Vera’s back is covered with a stream of blood from Jardine. Jardine in control as the referee calls for a break and both fighters get back to their feet. Jardine hits a nice leg kick but his hit with a heck of a punch. Jardine fights back and lays into Vera with some huge shots. Fortunately for Vera, he’s saved by the bell. Great first round, Jardine takes it.

Vera with a takedown early in the second. He connects with a good knee shot against Jardine, who looks really beaten but I think its just his style, for lack of a better way of describing it. Jardine looks to connect with some long, reaching punches before Vera connects with a kick of his own. Largely uneventful round, close one to call. Vera takes it for me.

Vera with a couple of good leg kicks early in round three. Jardine looks for a takedown but Vera does well to block it. They both land a couple of punches but its a slow, uneventful final round which goes to the judges after a late rally by Jardine. Could go either way.  Judges decision: Keith Jardine by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

- Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben. Its main event time. Needless to say, this crowd is here to see Bisping. Huge pop. Leben hits some nice leg kicks early. Bisping looks for a takedown but its blocked. Good start by Leben. Bisping hits a nice right punch. Leben another good leg kick but Bisping responds with a nice kick of his own and a knee. Leben is bleeding from the nose. Bisping hits a nice shot to the face. That shot livens things up and Leben tries to respond. Leben connects with some big shots of his own. Bisping with a takedown to close the round. Great first round, Bisping takes it.

Bisping hits a good left hook early in round two. Leben connects with a high knee and a leg kick. Bisping takes a shot to the nuts after some good work from Leben. Leben connects with some more good left hands and a leg kick. Bisping has got some good shots in of his own though and Leben is bleeding from his cheek. Leben lands some good punches to finish the second round stronger. Leben takes the round for me.

Leben connects with a right hand early. Some good exchanges of kicks. Bisping still looks in good shape. Leben charges at him and takes him down. That came out of nowhere. Bisping gets up without any damage and connects with a right hand. Leben almost mocked Bisping at the end, encouraging him to punch him. Its gone to the judge. I think Leben may have done enough in that third round. Judges decision: Michael Bisping by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-29).

BIsping winning certainly isn’t a shock, but I didn’t see him taking it unanimously. Heck of a fight though.

Thanks for joining us for our live UFC 89 coverage this evening. We’ll have fallout from Birmingham on the site throughout the weekend!

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com