McDonald's knockout (Tracy Lee)

Michael McDonald gave the UFC its best (and only) candidate for the Knockout of the Night at UFC 145 with a first-round knockout of former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres. McDonald got the KO with an uppercut at 3:18 in the first round.

After the bout, the 21-year-old planned a g-rated celebration.

"I get to eat some pizza, some ice cream, it's going to be a party tonight! But no alcohol," McDonald said.

Marcus Brimage celebrates win in tumble-off. (Tracy Lee)

UFC 145's preliminary card wasn't one to remember, though Travis Browne, Matt Brown and Chris Clements gave memorable performances in Atlanta on Saturday night.

Travis Browne pulled out the submission of the night with a triangle choke of Chad Griggs in the first round. Browne knocked Griggs to the ground with knees, then used a textbook choke to take out Griggs at 2:29 in the first.

Despite tiring out early, Matt Brown stopped the quick ascent of Stephen Thompson with a unanimous decision. The judges saw it 30-27, 29-27, 30-27 for Brown. Matt Brown grabbed a calf slicer in the first round, but Thompson worked his way out. In the second, Thompson controlled most of the round, landing shots as an exhausted Brown couldn't answer, until the final minute. Brown knocked Thompson to the ground with an elbow, then used ground and pound until the round ended. Those elbows opened a large cut on Brown's forehead. Thompson had better stand-up early in the third, but Brown's takedown and triangle choke late in the third round kept Thompson from fighting back.

[ Related: Impromptu gymnastics competition breaks out inside Octagon ]

Unsurprisingly, Anthony Njokuani and John Makdessi's bout turned into a kicking contest, with Njokuani taking the bout 30-27 on all three judges' cards. Njokuani kept his distance while landing kicks to the abdomen and legs of Makdessi. Makdessi could never move inside enough to actually get some offense.

Editor's note: Jay Busbee is cageside for Cagewriter in Atlanta. Follow him on Twitter.

ATLANTA -If you're an MMA fighter, there's a right way and a wrong way to show exactly how athletic you are. Marcus Brimage and Maximo Blanco chose the wrong way.

Brimage and Blanco opened UFC 145 with a largely drama-free opening bout, 15 minutes in which the fighters logged more miles walked than punches landed. Brimage had trouble getting Blanco to the floor, and Blanco didn't stay down long once he got there. But between the final horn and the judges' verdict — split decision in favor of Brimage — the fighters began a curious little display that might not have had the effect they wanted.

[ Related: Travis Browne and Matt Brown highlight UFC 145 prelim card ]

As the horn sounded, Blanco raised his arms in a self-declared victory. With his crew filing into the ring, Brimage shook his head in disgust. And then Blanco ripped a page from the playbook of NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, who backflips off

Mir will get another chance at the belt. (Getty)After Alistair Overeem's license was called into question by the Nevada Athletic Commission because of results of a testosterone screening, the UFC has changed the heavyweight bout at UFC 146 on May 26. Now former champion Frank Mir will face current champ Junior dos Santos for the belt. UFC president Dana White tweeted the news on Friday night.

In early April, Overeem's pre-fight random drug test raised red flags with the NAC, who will administer the May fight in Las Vegas. His testosterone levels were well above the approved levels. He is scheduled to to appear before the NAC on Tuesday.

The ongoing question after Overeem's troubles arose was who would replace him on such an important card. This is dos Santos' first title defense since beating Cain Velasquez for the belt in November. Overeem earned the title shot by defeating Brock Lesnar in December.

Though a vocal group of fans pushed for Mark Hunt, who is fighting Stefan Struve at UFC 146, Mir was always the best option. He would not have to change much to prepare for the bout since he was already scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez. Mir won his last three bouts, including a memorable submission of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140.

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Andreas Spang had an exciting win at Bellator on Friday night, but what will be remembered is how he acted afterwards.

Spang was rocked in the second round by Brian Rogers in the Bellator middleweight tournament semifinal, but he came back to knock Rogers out with a left hook. Rogers fell to the canvas like a tree being cut down. After the fight was stopped, Spang jumped to the top of the cage and flipped two middle fingers to the Cleveland crowd, who was behind the Ohio-based Rogers.

After his arm was raised for the win, Bellator brought Maiquel Falcao in the cage to face off with Spang. Falcao win his tournament semifinal in a decision earlier in the evening. When they faced off, Spang pushed him. Falcao responded with a knee to Spang's body, but clearly pulled a punch and didn't hit Spang before they were separated. Falcao charged back towards Spang, but was stopped by his coaches and Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith. Both men were ushered out of the cage without any further incident.

According to the Detroit News' Matt Bishop, Ohio Athletic Commissioner Bernie Profato immediately "read Spang the riot act" after the bout. This isn't the first time he pushed an opponent while not in a fight. During Thursday's weigh-ins, he pushed Rogers as they faced off.

UPDATE: Bishop reports that Profato has given Spang the option of a $500 fine and a six-month suspension, which would take him out of the middleweight tournament final, or 20 percent of his purse now. If Spang crosses the line again, the six-month suspension will be added on.

Your weekend needed a picture of Eddie Alvarez, Hulk Hogan and Michael Chandler. (Getty)To kick off a full weekend of MMA, Eddie Alvarez will try to avenge one of the three losses in his career as he takes on Shinya Aoki at Bellator 66 in Cleveland tonight. Aoki beat the former Bellator champ with a heel hook in 2008. To add to Alvarez's motivation, this is his first fight since losing to Michael Chandler in November.

They will be joined on the card by middleweight tournament semifinals, Brian Rogers vs. Andreas Spang and Maiquel Falcao vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, and lightweight tournament semifinals Rick Hawn vs. Lloyd Woodard and Thiago Michel vs. Brent Weedman. Check out the fights on MTV2 at 8 p.m. ET

After that, tune to "The Ultimate Fighter" to see John Cofer from Team Faber take on Vinc Pichel from Team Cruz. That fight will air on FX at 10 p.m. ET, followed by the final installment of "Primetime."

Use this thread to talk about the evening's fights, make predictions for UFC 145, and discuss anything your heart desires and our filters allow. Don't forget to follow Cagewriter on Facebook and Twitter.

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans got nose to nose as they faced off after they weighed in before their UFC 145 bout. Jones usually will look over the head of his opponent during a face-off, but looked Evans right in the eyes as Jones' brother, Baltimore Ravens player Arthur Jones, yelled. Both men were booed as they spoke briefly to the crowd.

The rest of the weigh-ins were uneventful. John Makdessi came in overweight and will pay 20 percent of his purse to Anthony Njokuani. Read on for complete results, thanks to the good people at MMA Junkie.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Champ Jon Jones (205) vs. Rashad Evans (204)
Rory MacDonald (169.5) vs. Che Mills (170)
Ben Rothwell (263) vs. Brendan Schaub (237)
Michael McDonald (135) vs. Miguel Torres (135.5)
Mark Hominick (145.5) vs. Eddie Yagin (144.5)
John Alessio (155.5) vs. Mark Bocek (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)

Travis Browne (250) vs. Chad Griggs (228)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Stephen Thompson (171)
John Makdessi (158) vs. Anthony Njokuani (156)
Mac Danzig (155) vs. Efrain Escudero (156)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Chris Clements (169) vs. Keith Wisniewski (170.5)
Maximo Blanco (146) vs. Marcus Brimage (145)

Gustafsson got a big win in his home country (Getty)Welcome to Reader Rants, the weekly post where the readers take over and have their say. If you want to be a part of a future Reader Rants, like Cagewriter on Facebook and comment on any of the stories that show up in your newsfeed.

To start out this week's rants, not everyone was disappointed that the #RallyForMarkHunt was stopped by UFC president Dana White.

Meh. Good. Better, more qualified options exist than Mark Hunt. If Hunt deserves it, he'll show it with the rest of 2012. Giving him a title shot now would be pretty weak. Not sure it'd even be exciting. Good chin vs. Slugger doesn't always equal good fight. Sometimes it just means assbeating, and his ground game is still pedestrian. -- Dylan Schmeyer

Alexander Gustafsson impressed with his win over Thiago Silva. Several Cagereaders want to see him fight Ryan Bader, though one wants to see him fight a former champ.

A number one contender match vs. Bader seems to be the most appropriate matchup. Hendo was guaranteed a title shot and won't risk losing it by fighting a dangerous up-and-comer like Gustafsson. -- Grady Woods

Bader makes a lot of sense. Tests to see if Gustafsson has improved his wrestling defense to elite levels. -- John Wilcox