Bay State holds its own at UFC Fight Night

Two wins by Massachusetts fighters highlighted an exciting card Wednesday during UFC Fight Night on Spike TV.
Milford's Jorge Rivera unleashed some bombs on Nate Quarry and won by referee stoppage in the second round. And, in one of the least exciting bouts, Kenny Florian of Brookline was masterful in the way he picked apart Takanori Gomi and won by submission in the main event.
In the Rivera fight, the Bay Stater was aggressive from the open and went toe-to-toe in Quarry. He landed some huge shots in the first round, but Quarry managed to hang on and survived to the second round.
It was in the second round when Rivera popped Quarry with a punch that put him to the mat. Rivera pounced on his opponent and pounded away until the ref stopped the match.
Florian wasn't as aggressive against Gomi. He was very methodical with his right jabs, which he landed at will. All the while, Florian had his left caulked, but never unleashed it.
Florian did his homework. He had an answer for everything Gomi threw at him and wore the Japanese fighter down with jabs.
It was in the third round that Florian went for the jugular. He timed a take down perfectly and skillfully tied Gomi up in a choke hold for the win.
The punch of the night came from Roy "Big Country" Nelson, who at 6-feet tall and 263 pounds is an inspiration to those of us touting around sizable beer bellies.
Nelson looked like David against Goliath next to the 6-11 Stefan Struve. But Nelson didn't need a sling to bring this giant down, all he needed was one huge right that floored Struve in the first round.
Nelson drilled Struve in the chin and the giant's knees just buckled as he collapsed to the mat. Lights out, Nelson wins.
In the best fight of the night, Ross Pearson threw everything he had at Dennis Siver, but Siver just wouldn't go down. He showed huge heart and that he has a chin like oak.
Despite being torn apart by punches from Pearson, Siver hung in for all three rounds before eventually losing the decision.
To his credit, Pearson fought a great fight and landed the shots he needed to. He was also good on defense and never let Siver gain any kind of momentum.