(Tracy Lee)

UFC 155 was headed towards becoming one of the least memorable UFC pay-per-view cards in recent history until Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller stepped in the cage. The lightweights delivered a late Fight of the Year candidate as Miller won 29-28 on all three judges' cards.

Miller opened up the fight with a bevy of punches, and opened a cut on Lauzon's face early. Lauzon's wooziness allowed Miller to lock a standing arm triangle. Lauzon was able to slip out of the choke, but when he emerged, his face was covered in blood.

[Complete UFC 155 recap: Cain Velasquez mauls Junior dos Santos]

Though Miller managed better attacks and wasn't bleeding as badly as Lauzon, he still found himself in trouble late in the third round. Lauzon dove onto Miller's legs, and attempted a leg lock submission. If there wasn't so much blood covering their bodies and the canvas, Lauzon might have pulled out the win.

Lauzon told Yahoo! Sports after the fight that he required 40 stitches for the cuts sustained during the fight.

Miller was impressed by Lauzon's toughness.

“Joe Lauzon is a tough kid. I knew I was going to have to bring my best effort to put him away and I was never able to," Miller said after the fight. "That’s how good he is on the ground. And even in the last minute, look what he was trying to do to win the fight."

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(Tracy Lee)

Costa Philippou wasn't even supposed to be fighting at UFC 155. It was supposed to be Chris Weidman, Philippou's teammate, taking on Tim Boetsch. It was supposed to be a fight that decided a potential contender for Anderson Silva's bout. But in MMA, things don't always work out like they are supposed to, and Philippou walked away with a win at UFC 155.

Philippou stepped in to fight Boetsch after Weidman was injured in training camp. Boetsch took an early lead with clinch work and takedowns in the first round, but between rounds he talked about an injury that was bothering him. It got worse for Boetsch in the second round, as a large cut opened in his forehead and he was poked in the eye.

[Complete UFC 155 recap: Cain Velasquez mauls Junior dos Santos]

With his eye swelling and blood covering his face, Boetsch tried to deal with Philippou's striking. Boetsch attempted takedowns, but couldn't hold off Philippou, who finished the fight at 2:11 in the third round.

After the fight, Philippou sent this tweet that said it all.

They know me now.

— Costas Philippou (@Philippou185UFC) December 30, 2012

Though he's now 12-2 and has five straight wins in the UFC, Philippou has flown under the radar among middleweights. It will be hard to ignore him after he took advantage of this opportunity at UFC 155.

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(Tracy Lee)

Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner staked a late claim to the UFC 155 Fight of the Night bonus with a bout that ended in a split decision. Varner won it on the judges' cards, 30-27, 27-30, 29-28.

Varner gained an edge early in the bout by tagging Guillard in the first round. Guillard showed good kicks, but couldn't escape Varner's takedowns for much of the bout. But the most frightening moment of the bout came late in the third round.

[Complete UFC 155 recap: Cain Velasquez mauls Junior dos Santos]

The two were scrambling on the ground for position when Guillard took Varner's back. Varner stood up, and with Guillard's head pointed to the ground, Varner slammed his opponent to the ground. Amazingly, Guillard was not knocked out or injured from the move. The fight ended seconds after, and the two embraced.

“This was a very emotional fight for both of us," Varner said after the bout. "After what happened a few weeks ago at the "TUF Finale" event, we were both ready to compete. I knew we would eventually get in the Octagon and squash our beef and I definitely feel that we did. I’m happy about my performance, I feel that I was able to dominate the fight wherever we ended up and I’m glad I got the win.”

Varner and Guillard were originally scheduled to fight during "The Ultimate Fighter" finale on Dec. 15, but illness kept Varner from the cage. Guillard was understandably upset about the delay, leading to trash talk.

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(Getty)UFC 155 is only a day away. It's time for picks from Yahoo! Sports' columnist Kevin Iole, Cagewriter editor Maggie Hendricks, and Cagereaders who posted their picks on Facebook.

Kevin Iole: Junior dos Santos W5 Cain Velasquez -- I can't believe I'm picking against Velasquez. To me, he is in many ways the perfect heavyweight, with great conditioning, great wrestling and tremendous power. But how do we ignore what dos Santos has done? Much was made of Velasquez's knee injury before their first fight, but what isn't as well known is that Junior had a bad leg, too, and couldn't do much. It's going to be a dogfight, but I think Junior finds a way to pull it out.

Maggie Hendricks: Cain Velasquez W5 Junior dos Santos -- Velasquez was injured in his last bout with JDS. With a healthy knee, he'll get to use his wrestling to control and beat on JDS for five rounds.

Cagereaders: Couldn't ask for a better way to end the year than this rematch. This will last longer than the first but not by much. I'm picking Cigano by KO R1. Cain has amazing wrestling and ground and pound. However, I think Junior is the guy that has his number and things won't go as planned for Cain. Velasquez will come out more aggressive than the first fight and that will spell the end. Junior will rock him with some brutal counters causing Cain to shoot in for the take down. Junior will stuff the attempt and finish the fight with an uppercut around 3 minutes into the first. -- Jackson Torres

[Related: Five questions that will be answered at UFC 155]
__

Kevin Iole: Joe Lauzon W3 Jim Miller -- Definitely will be the Fight of the Night in my opinion (is there any other kind of fight for Lauzon?) I don't think Joe will be able to submit Jim, but he is so active and works so hard I think he'll pile up the points to win.

Maggie Hendricks: Joe Lauzon Sub2 Jim Miller -- Lauzon's submission game is tough to beat. He will need to avoid Miller's well-rounded game, but can do it.

Cagereaders: My two favorite 155 pound fighters. When I saw Miller step in for Maynard, my heart sank. I'm going to see one them lose, and it looks to be J-Lau. Miller matches up really well for Lauzon's style. He has power in his punches and solid wrestling, backed up with a serious ground game and outstanding cardio. Joe has a killer instinct and a more dangerous ground game. Still, I like Miller taking this fought by a UD. -- Tom Hogan

--

Long before he put together a 9-2 record and earned a spot against Chris Leben at UFC 155, Derek Brunson was a cheerleader. As he shows in his audition video for "The Ultimate Fighter," Brunson was an accomplished tumbler and stunter. Skip to the 2:10 mark to see him toss his partner up into one-handed stunts and throw a double-twisting flip.

He talked about his cheerleading past with MMA Fighting, and pointed out how difficult cheerleading can be.

"I can do flips, and I was like tossing girls in the air. That's where I got my strength from, just controlling girls in the air. You get core strength, your chest gets all big. It makes you really strong, like you look on steroids, but you don't have to take steroids because of cheerleading."

Though Brunson wrestled in college, he said he did have scholarship offers for cheerleading. Wrestling and eventually MMA won out. Brunson admitted that MMA is more dangerous than cheerleading, but it's still tough.

"Cheerleading is definitely hard on

UFC president Dana White said Gilbert Melendez will get a shot at the UFC lightweight belt (Yahoo! Sports)No Strikeforce fighter has suffered more as a result of the dispute between Showtime and UFC president Dana White than Gilbert Melendez.

Many knowledgeable mixed martial arts experts believe the Strikeforce lightweight champion might be the best 155-pound fighter in the world. But since Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce from Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment in March 2011, has fought just three times and hasn't gotten anywhere near a mega-event.

That is about to change with the demise of Strikeforce after its Jan. 12 show in Oklahoma City. That card will mark the final Strikeforce event as part of an agreement announced earlier this month between Zuffa and Showtime, which televises Strikeforce events.

UFC president Dana White said fighters under contract to Strikeforce would be folded into the UFC. Melendez is injured and unable to defend his title in Oklahoma City next month, so his next fight will be in the UFC.

Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (Getty Images)White told reporters Thursday following the pre-fight press conference

(Getty)The UFC's end-of-the-year cards are usually stacked. Despite injuries, UFC 155 is no different. It features intriguing bouts that will answer some burning questions.

Did a knee injury hold back Cain Velasquez the first time he fought Junior dos Santos? When the two first met up last November, Velasquez reportedly had a badly injured knee. He was knocked out in 64 seconds. This time a (seemingly) healthy Velasquez will get to show if he deserves the heavyweight belt.

Has Chris Leben returned to form, for really real this time? Since Leben was on the original "Ultimate Fighter," he has been a man who wrestled with his demons. Most recently, those demons took the form of a banned pain killer which resulted in a one-year suspension from the UFC. Against Derek Brunson, Leben can show he's again the man who knocked out Wanderlei Silva.

Can Tim Boetsch be the next guy to challenge Anderson Silva? Though his original bout with Chris Weidman was called off because of an injury to Weidman, Boetsch still has another opportunity to show he can beat up opponents. He wants a chance to beat up Silva,* and this bout with Costa Phillippou is an opportunity for Boetsch's fighting to shine.

Or should Alan Belcher be the man to take on Silva? It's been more than three years since Belcher lost a fight. His last four fights have been stoppage wins. An impressive win over Yushin Okami could put him in line to fight for the middleweight belt.*

Is Todd Duffee still the knockout artist who once graced the octagon? Back in 2009, Duffee knocked out Tim Hague in a mere seven seconds. After that, the hype train was running behind him full steam. It was derailed when Mike Russow came back to knock Duffee out in the third round of their bout. Duffee was cut from the UFC, and is getting another shot at the octagon on Saturday. He'll fight Philip De Fries on the Facebook preliminaries, and get a chance to show if he can still knock people out very quickly.

*Assuming the next middleweight belt is based on competitiveness and earning a title shot by fighting, not by calling opponents out. Considering what has happened recently in the UFC welterweight and light heavyweight divisions, there are no guarantees.

Chris Leben hasn't fought in more than a year. After losing to Mark Munoz in November of 2011, he tested positive for a banned painkiller and was suspended for a year. On Saturday, he'll try to get his career back on track against Derek Brunson, a Strikeforce fighter making his UFC debut.

For Leben's return, Affliction designed a shirt featuring graphics from his tattoos.

(MMA Warehouse)

It has more meaning than your average Affliction design. Unfortunately, the design comes with a high price. Buy it here for $57.99.