FanHouse AlanBelcher

Like a lot of fans around the world, I was excited about the U.S. debut of Japanese mixed martial arts star Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 100. Unlike a lot of fans, I was even more impressed with Akiyama in the Octagon than I thought I'd be.

LAS VEGAS -- The UFC fell just shy of its best-ever Nevada gate, with 11,000 fans spending $5.1 million at the box office in ticket sales for UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

This is the UFC 100 live blog for the first fight of the night's pay-per-view card, Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher.

You can also read up on Mike Chiappetta's live reports from Las Vegas, and follow all of the action by following me on Twitter.

The pay-per-view show has stared and the live blog begins below.

It was the YouTube highlight that put the upstart Bellator Fighting Championships on the map, and it was an easy choice for our MMA Submission of the Half Year: Toby Imada choking out Jorge Masvidal with an inverted triangle.

After the 1996 Olympics, Dan Henderson was a world-class athlete looking for a way to make a living. He had just competed in Greco-Roman wrestling in Atlanta, and he knew he wasn't ready to retire as an athlete at age 26, but he also knew there was no professional Greco-Roman wrestling circuit.

So he decided to take a shot at mixed martial arts, a sport so obscure that when he told people he was doing it, most didn't know what it was. Even those who had heard of it were only vaguely aware of what it was; some people called it Ultimate Fighting, some called it vale tudo, some called it no holds barred, and some called it savagery unfit for an Olympian.

But Henderson entered the Brazil Open in 1997, and that began an MMA career that has seen him fight professionally on four continents, and an MMA career that continued on Saturday with his victory over Rich Franklin in the main event at UFC 93.

Welcome to the FanHouse UFC 93 live blog, where we'll have live, round-by-round updates of the three undercard fights on today's UFC pay-per-view show.

The undercard consists of Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang, Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle and Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares. When those fights are over, you'll want to switch over to our UFC 93 main event live blog, where we'll have round-by-round updates of the co-main event, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman, and the main event, Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson.

If you just want to know who won and how, check our UFC 93 results page. The undercard live blog has begun and is after the jump.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is in Ireland on Saturday for UFC 93, a pay-per-view show that has been lost in the shuffle between the great UFC 92 and UFC 94 cards. But while a lot of fans will skip this card, we'll be here at FanHouse all weekend with full coverage. Below is everything you need to know to get ready.