Early Undercard Action at UFC 98

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Through six fights at UFC 98, the most memorable moments were those usually not associated with the sport: safety-first thinking and a grown man crying.

In the fourth bout in Las Vegas, lightweight Kyle Bradley was credited with a first-round TKO over Phillipe Nover by referee Yves Lavigne. Bradley floored Nover, then pounced and delivered four straight rights on the ground as Nover went limp.

But then, as Lavigne moved in to wave the fight over at 1 minute 3 seconds, Nover rose up. It was too late, much to the disappointment of the MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd and to Nover.

‘He was in a bad spot, but he got his faculties back together quickly,’ Bradley said.

In the next fight, heavyweight Tim Hague was belted on the nose -- and later guessed it was broken -- by a Pat Barry punch. But Hague recuperated, got Barry into a hold and applied a fight-ending guillotine choke 1:42 into the bout.

Celebrating with his corner, Hague’s face melted into tears of happiness.

‘He can turn my face to mashed potatos and I’m going to keep coming,’ Hague told the crowd in the octagon.

Also, before the pay-per-view cameras started rolling, lightweight George Roop won a split-decision over Dave Kaplan; Yoshiyuki Yoshida caused Brandon Wolff to tap out by first-round guillotine choke in a welterweight fight; Krzysztof Soszynski scored a first-round TKO over Andre Gusmao in a light-heavyweight bout; and welterweight Brock Larson defeated Mike Pyle.

-- Lance Pugmire