LAS VEGAS – Rashad Evans staggered his opponent in the opening seconds of their long-brewing grudge match, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returned the favor midway through the third.

But Evans survived the onslaught, regained his composure, and again took control of the light-heavyweight headliner to earn the unanimous-decision win and a guaranteed title shot.

The conclusion to one of MMA's greatest feuds closed the book on UFC 114, which took place Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Evans vs. Jackson headlined a pay-per-view main card that preceded a two-fight "UFC Prelims" broadcast on Spike TV.

After a year of trash-talking and grandstanding following their coaching gigs on "The Ultimate Fighter 10," Evans jumped out to an early lead after clipping Jackson with a quick right hand in the opening seconds of the fight. Jackson stumbled across the mat as Evans chased after him, but "Rampage" never went down and used the extended clinch time against the cage to regain his wits. Evans used the threat of the same punch again late in the round to set up a takedown attempt, which secured him a 10-9 lead through one round.

In the second, Evans again used the overhand right to set up the takedown attempts, and again as in the first round, the action often stalled while in the clinch against the cage. Jackson's sprawl allowed him to stay upright for the round but Evans' relentless pressure kept the ex-champs in close quarters. Often fighting from the clinch, Jackson couldn't get the distance he needed for his preferred striking, and Evans went up two rounds to none.

In the third and final frame, Evans resorted to a stick-and-move game plan while shooting in and out of his opponent's range. While initially proving too quick for his opponent, Evans saw the momentum of the fight turn on a dime when Jackson clipped and dropped him with a left hook just a minute into the round. The fight came dangerously close to a stoppage when Jackson unloaded a powerful barrage of blows, and referee Herb Dean was clearly mere moments away from stopping the fight.

"I was fighting through it," Evans said. "In my mind, I was like, 'I'm not giving up.'"

Evans miraculously survived the onslaught and got back to his feet, though he was still clearly wobbly and feeling the effects of the barrage. But either unable or unwilling to close the distance, Jackson remained at a distance, which allowed Evans time to recover. It was a crucial mistake that Jackson's cornermen loudly screamed for him to correct. By then, though, it was too late, and Evans took another round on two of the three judges' cards.

In the end, he earned the unanimous-decision win via scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

"The game plan was simple: not have a game plan at all," Evans said. "At first he was sharp, but he kind of slowed down. I was able to use my speed."

With the loss, Jackson, who hadn't fought in 15 months due to a short-lived retirement and movie project, cost himself a title shot that UFC president Dana White guaranteed to the winner a few weeks ago. It also drops his overall record to 30-8 overall and 5-2 in the UFC.

Evans, now on deck for a shot at recently crowned champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, improves to 15-1-1 (10-1-1 UFC).

In the night's co-headliner, Michael Bisping avoided the first back-to-back losses of his career, fended off takedown attempts, showed superior striking, and simply worn down opponent Dan Miller for a unanimous-decision victory.

Bisping, fighting for the first time since a close but unanimous-decision loss to Wanderlei Silva in February, gained more and more confidence as the fight wore on. The comfort allowed him to sit in the pocket and unload his preferred tool – an overhand right – with increasing accuracy.

By the third round, Miller's nose had a steady trickle of blood, and both eyes began swelling. But unwilling to roll over, he continued pushing the pace and delivered as many punches as he ate. But unable to take the fight to the mat – where he's earned seven submission victories in 11 career wins – until midway through the final round, Miller never really put his opponent in trouble.

In fact, the best shot at stopping Bisping came before the fight even started, when a cageside official accidentally poked "The Ultimate Fighter 3" winner in the eye while applying the traditional pre-fight Vaseline.

In the end, Bisping swept the judges' cards and earned the unanimous-decision victory via scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

"He's tough, man," Bisping said. "I hit him with some big power hands, and he stood right there and took them like a man. ... I'm angry with myself for not finishing the fight. I underestimated him a bit on the feet."

Bisping, who entered the fight in a 1-2 skid, improves to 19-3 overall and a solid 9-3 in the UFC. Miller, meanwhile, knows his job is in jeopardy with a third consecutive loss that drops his overall record to 11-4 and 3-3 in the UFC.

In the night's lone heavyweight bout, highly touted Todd Duffee was easily on his way to proving that all the hype might have just been warranted.

Coming into his fight with Chicago-area cop and iron-chinned Mike Russow, even Duffee – who posted the quickest knockout in UFC history with a seven-second beatdown of Tim Hague in his 2009 promotional debut – admitted that many fans had prematurely anointed him the division's next big thing.

But as Duffee and every other MMA fighter knows, it takes just one good shot to score a comeback.

Russow landed his late in the third round after Duffee dominated him for two rounds with accurate uppercuts, stiff jabs and lunging body blows. But as Duffee went into the third round for the first time in his career, he switched stances and began using his left hand almost exclusively. Whether it was that possible right-hand injury or a simple adjustment, the change allowed Russow to connect on a counter right to his opponent's temple. Duffee, who already was showing signs of fatigue, crashed to the mat in a daze – arms outstretched – and referee Josh Rosenthal quickly halted the action at the 2:35 mark of the round.

Although UFC broadcaster and in-cage interviewer Joe Rogan called it the greatest one-punch comeback he's seen in his 10 years of covering fights, a depleted Russow wasn't exactly ready to celebrate the win.

"This was an awful fight," he said. "I did not execute my game plan at all. This is a shock.

"My goal was to hang in there ... but this was an ugly fight."

Russow, who edged Justin McCully in his UFC debut this past August, moves to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the UFC. Duffee, meanwhile, tastes defeat for the first time and falls to 6-1 (1-1 UFC).

In a bout originally slated for the night's co-main-event slot until Jason Brilz replaced injured Forrest Griffin, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (and most observers) figured he'd have an easier fight with his new and less-accomplished opponent.

They figured wrong.

Luckily for Nogueira, the judges botched what appeared to be a clear-cut victory for Brilz and instead awarded the favorite the split-decision win.

Brilz, a four-year wrestling letter-winner at Division II University of Nebraska-Omaha, earned hard-fought takedowns and nearly ended the bout with a guillotine choke and big looping punches in the second round. As each minute ticked by and Nogueira continually struggled to defend against the clinches and takedowns, Brilz's nervous energy slowly turned to beaming confidence.

Brilz, in fact, really never faced trouble until the third round, when his gas tank started to fade and Nogueira began taking dominant ground positions. However, the PRIDE vet's arm-triangle choke, crucifix position and other submission attempts couldn't corral Brilz, and the fight went to the judges.

And based on the crowd's flood of boos and continued chants of "bull [expletive]!," they disagreed with the verdict: a split-decision win for Nogueira via scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.

"I left it to the judges again, and anything can happen," said Brilz, who quickly campaigned for the fans to halt their booing. "It is what it is. But I went out and had a great performance."

Nogueira admittedly had his hands full.

"Brilz is a very tough guy, a very tough wrestling guy," he said. "I had difficulty. ... Next time out it'll be a better performance.

"But I thought I got the win because I was more aggressive."

With what's sure to be a heavily debated win, "Lil Nog" moves to 19-3 overall and 2-0 in the UFC. Brilz drops to 18-3-1 overall and 3-2 in the UFC, and both of his octagon losses have come via split decision.

In the night's opening bout, John Hathaway had something of a coming-out party after having dominated in international UFC shows – but gaining little traction with North American fans.

However, opponent Diego Sanchez, who returned to 170 pounds after a three-fight stint at lightweight, learned what many in the industry already knew: the undefeated Hathaway is a legit talent.

The 6-foot-1 Brit made his U.S. debut and used his long reach, crisp and powerful striking, a surprisingly effective sprawl, and dominant ground game to grind out a lopsided unanimous-decision win over "TUF 1" winner.

The former rugby player and Cage Rage veteran set the tone in the first round with straight right hands that would prove to be his weapon of choice throughout the fight. The shots set up a perfectly timed knee that stopped Sanchez's takedown attempt and sent him tumbling to the mat.

"I was hoping I would (finish the fight then), but Diego is incredibly tough and pulled through quite well," Hathaway said.

A resilient Sanchez survived two more rounds of the abuse and even landed a few of his own power shots to bloody his opponent's nose. But he could never mount any extended attacks, and Hathaway earned the unanimous-decision win via scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26.

With the decisive victory, Hathaway improves to a remarkable 13-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC with previous decision wins over UFC fighters Thomas Egan, Rick Story and Paul Taylor. Sanchez, fighting for the first time since his failed bid to take then-champ B.J. Penn's lightweight title in December, drops to 21-4 overall and 10-4 in the UFC.

SEE ALSO: UFC 114 preliminary-card recap: Kim remains unbeaten, Escudero tops Lauzon

MAIN CARD

Rashad Evans def. Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Michael Bisping def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee via knockout (punch) - Round 3, 2:35
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Jason Brilz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
John Hathaway def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
PRELIMINARY CARD

Dong Hyun Kim def. Amir Sadollah via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Efrain Escudero def. Dan Lauzon via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Melvin Guillard def. Waylon Lowe via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:28
Cyrille Diabate def. Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:13
Aaron Riley def. Joe Brammer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:06