Once regarded by many as one of the top lightweights in the world, former Pride FC lightweight champion and Japanese MMA legend Takanori Gomi met his match Wednesday night as he squared off with TUF vet Kenny Florian in the main event of UFC Fight Night 21.

Florian vs. Gomi

The event, held at the Bojangles Coliseum, marked the first time that the UFC has visited Charlotte, N.C., since UFC 5 in 1995. The event also marked Gomi’s UFC debut and his first fight in America since 2003.

Gomi and Florian exchanged on the feet for the majority of the main event, and Florian controlled the action. He utilized his four-inch reach advantage throughout the fight, landing stiff jabs from a distance, which took a toll on Gomi. Gomi shot for the takedown on the BJJ black belt in the first round, but was unable to get the fight to the ground or stay close enough to trade blows effectively.

In the last round Florian successfully took the fight to the ground, landed ground-and-pound, and used an arm triangle to pass to full mount. Florian used his BJJ to lock in a rear-naked choke as Gomi turned, forcing the tap at 2:52 into the third round. Florian outstriked Gomi 80-41, according to compustrike.com, and won “Submission of the Night” honors. Florian is expected to face Gray Maynard next in August, when the UFC visits his hometown of Boston, Massa.

In the co-main event, heavyweight Roy Nelson proved that his TUF win was no fluke and that he is ready for the UFC’s toughest competition by running through Stefan Struve in the first round. After a brief power outage the fight commenced, and Nelson didn’t let the reach advantage of the 6-foot-11-inch Struve become a factor in the fight.

Rivera vs. Quarry

Nelson pressed his opponent in the opening exchanges, closed the distance and landed an overhand right, which clipped Struve. He quickly followed up with another overhand right that dropped Struve. Nelson jumped on his opponent, landing ground-and-pound until the fight was stopped at 0:39 into the first round. Nelson outstriked Struve 9-2 in the match and won “Knockout of the Night” honors.

TUF vet and 12-fight UFC vet Jorge Rivera put on an impressive performance in a standup battle with fellow TUF vet and former UFC middleweight title challenger Nate Quarry in the second fight of the night. Rivera dominated the first round, dropping Quarry three times with strong rights, and nearly finished him.

Quarry got rocked with a left at the start of the second round and Rivera followed up with ground-and-pound, putting an end to the fight at 0:29 into the second round. The fight marked Rivera’s third consecutive UFC victory.

The first fight of the night featured an explosive lightweight battle between TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and 8-fight UFC veteran Dennis Siver. The fighters traded back and forth on the feet for most of the fight. Pearson rocked his opponent several times in the fight and showed good takedown defense.

Pearson vs. Siver

Pearson utilized his superior standup to earn a unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the contest 30-27. The bout earned “Fight of the Night” honors. All fighters earning bonus honors earned $30,000.

A preliminary bout between Caol Uno and Gleison Tibau was also featured on the broadcast before the co-main event. Tibau overwhelmed Uno with punches in the contest, took his back, and pounded him out. The fight was stopped at 4:13 into the first round.

Overall, the Bojangles Coliseum had an attendance of 7,700 and a total gate of $590,685. The broadcast on Spike TV peaked at two million fans during the main event, according to mmapayout.com. The event was followed by the premier of the eleventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

The next UFC event, UFC 112, will feature a middleweight champion match between Anderson Silva and Demian Maia, and a lightweight championship match between B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar. The event will mark the UFC’s first trip to Abu Dhabi, UAE. Live pay-per-view coverage of the event will begin at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, April 10. The event will be re-aired at the UFC’s normal event time of 10 p.m. EST via delay.

UFC Fight Night 21 Full

In a fight between two left-handed lightweights, Spencer Fisher somehow won a lackluster decision against the returning Caol Uno in their lightweight bout at UFC 99: The Comeback.

In a first round that left the fans restless, Fisher was content to sprawl out of Uno’s takedown attempts and clinch on the cage. For his part, Uno showed no desire to strike with Fisher, instead trying to ride into a takedown. Uno opened the second round with a takedown, but Fisher got back up and the war of attrition resumed, with Fisher sprawling and powering out of Uno’s takedowns but refusing to let his own hands go.

Caol Uno was robbed in Germany

Fisher finally let fly in the third round with strikes, but Uno continued to press forward and wrestle with a tiring Fisher. Uno’s determination finally paid off at the end of the round by taking down Fisher and grabbing mount. Fisher desperately tried to get out but Uno threatened him with submissions and hammerfists to finish the fight in mount. In a decision that for some reason announced with no card score, the judges somehow saw fit to award Fisher the victory.

What was certain was that as far as styles making fights go, Uno’s submission wrestling style and Fisher’s stand-up skills refused to engage each other. One could only wonder why Fisher chose not to force Uno to strike with him until the third round; Uno has had no wins by KO since 2005.

As the MMA world recovers from Strikeforce: Shamrock versus Diaz and gears up for UFC 97, fight fans can be pleased with the fact that they are now spoilt for choice in terms of MMA options. In the post-EliteXC world, the UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and the WEC can all put out quality fight cards with quality fighters.

But from the ashes of Pride FC, two newer Japanese promotions are finally bringing the heat back to the Asian MMA scene. Both DREAM and World Victory Road had struggles at the beginning; Japanese MMA isn’t as popular as it was during the Pride heyday, and many of the cards had a “circus freak” feel to them in an effort to garner attention and TV deals. But now both promotions have started to right the ship, and for fans who either have HDNet or don’t mind staying up way into the morning, there’s a treasure trove of significant fights coming up from the Land of The Rising Sun.

Some of the highlights include:

Hatsu Hioki vs Ronnie Mann (World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 8 – May 2)

With both DREAM and Sengoku currently holding featherweight tournaments, Hioki is the torchbearer for Sengoku’s tourney, as well as the hot favorite. The big and flashy names may most be on DREAM’s side, but Hioki is the man which most MMA publications rank as one of the top five featherweights in the world. With wins over WEC veterans Jeff Curran and Chris Manuel on his resume, Hioki will look to continue his tournament journey with a win over English-Japanese fighter Mann, who brings a 16-1 record with him to Sengoku’s tournament quarterfinals.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Gesais Calvancante (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Before the second coming of BJ Penn and the rise of fighters such as Shinya Aoki or Eddie Alvarez, the consensus top lightweight in the world was American Top Team fighter Gesais “JZ” Calvancante. As a middleweight, Calvancante won back-to-back K1 tournaments, and big things were expected from him when he moved to DREAM’s lightweight division. A series of nagging injuries and a decision loss to Aoki halted the JZ hype, and Calvancante will look to get back in the lightweight title picture with a win against Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri.

Former Pride standout Kawajiri, who was denied his desired matchup with Caol Uno when Uno re-signed with the UFC, will look to take out his frustrations on Calvancante and position himself as the next contender to Joachim Hansen’s DREAM lightweight title, as former number one contender Alvarez has signed exclusively with Bellator Fighting Championships.

Jason Miller vs Ronaldo Souza (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Most American fans will now recognize Jason “Mayhem” Miller from his MTV show “Bully Beatdown”, where Miller offers alleged-teenaged bullies money to let professional MMA fighters rough them up on national TV. Miller will have slightly loftier ambitions at DREAM 9, when he faces Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza for DREAM’s newly vacated middleweight title.

Souza, one of the MMA’s finest Jiu-Jitsu fighters, already has a victory over Miller from DREAM’s earlier tournament, but when tourney winner Gegard Mousasi decided to immediately jump to light heavyweight, the door was opened for Miller and Souza to fight a second time, this time with a title on the line.

Best of the Rest:

Former Japanese MMA golden boy Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will face Greco-Roman wrestling champ Joe Warren at DREAM 9as part of DREAM’s featherweight tourney. Yamamoto received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Also slated for DREAM 9 is a matchup between former DREAM middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi, who will fight former Pride and UFC fighter Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at light heavyweight.

At Sengoku 8, reigning Abu Dhabi champion and grappler extraordinaire Alexandre Ribeiro will have his second MMA fight against Team Grabaka fighter Kei Yamamiya. Ribeiro’s first MMA fight was a submission victory over pro wrestler Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku 5.