LAS VEGAS, NV -- It wasn’t the devastating knockout that he hoped for, but Tim Sylvia won a well-earned unanimous decision over Assuerio Silva in the main event of the “Ultimate Fight Night 3” inside The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

“Assuerio’s one tough dude,” Sylvia said afterward. “He’s just a great fighter – a lot tougher than I gave him credit for. I think I hurt him a couple of times. I saw him wobble. But I couldn’t capitalize on it.”

Sylvia appeared to hurt the Brazilian brick house twice late in the first round with right hands. Silva, however, refused to wither away. Instead, he held his ground and kept searching for a way to win.

Thus, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion merely continued dishing out a methodical, non-stop beating, picking Silva apart on the feet over the course of three rounds. He controlled the distance with the jab and displayed a wide arsenal of strikes, from his murderous right hand to an interesting array of kicks.

It was a workman-like effort, one that earned Sylvia a second shot at reigning champion Andrei Arlovski.

“I’m very excited about [a fight with Arlovski],” he admitted. “I’ve waned to fight Arlovski for a long time.”

As for the shameless Xyience plug, hardcore fans will latch onto that one for some good old fashion fighter bashing. Sure, it was awkward and forced. But let’s not begrudge a man from earning a living.

It’s hard to imagine those same fans refusing an extra month’s pay at work to give Staples a shout for the greatest printer paper on their next office conference call. So give the big fella a pass and just take it for what it was – a very lucrative five seconds on TV.

In the penultimate fight of the evening, Stephan Bonnar scored a first-round submission win over James Irvin. Make no mistake about it, Bonnar loves a good fight. He loves a drop-down, drag-out war. But he opted for the easier route against the ultra-dangerous James Irvin, wasting no time taking his opponent to the ground and then methodically working for a Kimura.

Bonnar finally sunk the hold for a submission win at 4:30 of the first round.

“I did all this hard training, and I feel kind of cheated because I have all my teeth and no black eyes,” Bonnar joked after the fight. I was planning on standing up a little more, but I drove him into the cage and saw a leg. It looked so appealing so I just took it.”

But Irvin didn’t just quit once Bonnar slapped on the fight-ending hold. Instead, the Sacramento-based fighter gritted his teeth and tried desperately to find an escape, risking the health of his arm and shoulder by refusing to submit for what seemed like a full minute.

“For a muscular guy, he’s got a lot of flexibility,” Bonnar said. “I heard it tearing, so I kept cranking it and cranking it but he wouldn’t tap.”

So, what’s next for the runner up of the 205-lb class for the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”?

“I’d like to fight one of the guys that I’ve idolized since childhood like Vitor Belfort, Ken Shamrock, Mario Sperry or a legend like that,” he commented. “But whoever the UFC wants me to fight, I’m all Forrest Griffin – whoops, did that just slip? I mean I’m all for it.”

Josh Burkman certainly has a flair for the dramatic. The confident, young welterweight prospect said he would win in dominant fashion. Tonight, he did just that, submitting Drew Fickett in 67 seconds.

In typical fashion, Fickett rushed to take the center of the Octagon at the opening bell. But a calm, level-headed Burkman simply walked casually toward him and held out his fist to touch gloves before starting the fight.

From there, Burkman wasted no time showing Fickett that he was in for a fight, bull rushing the skilled mixed marital artist into fence. Fickett made his way back to the center where both men fired heavy leather.

Burkman then grabbed Fickett and basically threw him down. The top welterweight tried to shoot for a single leg from his knees. Burkman sprawled and sunk a deep guillotine choke, quickly jumping guard to increase the pressure.

Fickett tapped out within a matter of seconds.

“I don’t like to submit people. I like to hit people. But he kept putting his head down when I threw something. I was thinking about a knee, but I caught him with a choke,” Burkman explained after the fight. “Fear is just not a factor for me. I feel good. I feel confident coming into the ring. Dropping down to 170 pounds, I feel like I can beat anybody.”

With a second UFC win under his belt, Burkman wasted no time calling out a possible future opponent.

“I want Diego Sanchez,” he said confidently. “That’s who I want. I guarantee I will whip Diego Sanchez’ ass.”

In the opening bout of the Spike TV broadcast, Chris Leben stopped a very durable Jorge Rivera with strikes at 1:44 of the first round.

“Rivera guy is a tough guy,” Leben said after the fight. “One of the biggest things is that he’s gone the distance with a lot of guys. The champ couldn’t finish him [with strikes]. Loiseau couldn’t finish him. I put him down in one round.”

Leben, who went up to Seattle to train with AMC Pankration for this fight, took the center of the cage at the opening bell and quickly forced a clinch. From there, he executed a nice leg trip to put Rivera where he’s weakest – on the ground.

But the Puerto Rican fighter showed surprising resilience on the ground, working to his feet twice in the span of about 10 seconds. Undeterred, Leben resumed his attack. This time, however, the fighters exchanged bombs with Rivera landing two excellent shots.

“He landed a couple of real good shots,” he admitted. “I normally don’t feel them, but I felt those. Anybody looking to bang with me out there, I have a little advice. Don’t stand toe to toe. It’s just not worth it.”

Not tonight, it wasn’t. Leben responded to the Rivera bombs by forcing another clinch and then uncorking left cross as Rivera pushed away. The blow dropped Rivera to his knees. Leben jumped all over him, raining down thudding shots to the side of his head as Rivera crouched in a turtle position without doing anything more to defend himself. That prompted referee Big John McCarthy to step in and stop the fight.

The win puts Leben puts on the cusp of a top-10 185-pound ranking.

It's on – Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes in May

To cap off the tremendous night of mixed martial arts, Zuffa President Dana White made good on his promise to make the biggest announcement in UFC history. Shortly after the Burkman-Fickett fight, White revealed that the biggest name in the history of the sport, Royce Gracie, will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon against none other than Matt Hughes.

The two will do battle in May at UFC 60. It’s Gracie, arguably the greatest fighter in history, pound-for-pound, versus Hughes, the most successful champion in UFC history.

Liddell-Couture 3 in February, Franklin-Loiseau in March, Ortiz-Griffin in April, and then Gracie-Hughes May…talk about starting the year off correctly!