ALLAN THE MAN

Chinese Taipei caught fire early and late to pull out a gutsy 84-79 victory over the Philippines on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Phil Davis' best shot against Lyoto Machida probably came via takedowns. He got a pair at the ends of the first and second rounds, and that may have been enough to tip the scales in his favor.

Machida stuffed many of Davis' takedowns – with the exception of the two that came late in the first and second. But it wasn't enough to get the judges' nod in his home country as Davis took the upset with a trio of 29-28 scores.

It may have been assisted by an injury but John Lineker finished Jose Maria Tome in the second round of their flyweight bout at tonight's (Aug. 3) UFC 163 event in Brazil.

As is usually the case with the little fellas, the action was fast and furious early. Lineker used his power to intimidate Maria into circling around the cage and keeping his distance. Unfortunately, that meant offering less offense, though he did land heavy and clean with significant offense.

WATCH 'UFC 163: John Lineker vs Jose Maria Full Fight Replay' BELOW:

It took Thales Leites about four years to get back to the UFC, but a successful return was sealed up about 30 seconds in. Leites, a former middleweight title challenger, took down Tom Watson 30 seconds into the fight, then dominated the bout on the ground en route to a unanimous decision sweep of the judges' scorecards.

Leites used a good combination early to bully Watson to the cage. He then looked for a trip takedown and got one 30 seconds into the fight. From there, he took the Brit's back and started to look for a choke. But more than anything, Leites landed some strong punches to the sides of Watson's head from the back, and he was able to open up a cut on Watson's left side.

It started with a left hook in the opening seconds. Cezar Ferreira landed it, Thiago Santos felt it, and it signaled the beginning of the end as Ferreira seized the opportunity to lock up a guillotine choke for the submission finish 47 seconds into the fight.

Ferreira hardly broke a sweat in his victorious effort. The winner of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" had Santos hurt early, and didn’t let up. He locked on the arm-in guillotine while Santos was still woozy, and that was all it took to force the tap.

Preliminary Round of FIBA Asia Championship 2013 is done (read results here). Secondary Round of the tournament will start August 5, 2013 to be held, still, in Manila,Philippines. Secondary Round of FIBA Asia Championship 2013 has been announced.

SECOND ROUND FORMAT: Qualifying teams retain carry over their records from the first round, with wins and losses against eliminated teams stricken from their records.

The top three teams from Group A and the top three teams from Group B are grouped to form Group E. The top three teams from Group C and the top three teams from Group D are grouped to form Group F.

But two-time champion Iran didn't seem to think so, completing a sweep with an impressive 70-51 victory over defending titlist China on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

With ailing Chinese star Yi Jianlian sitting out, the Persians pounced early, taking a 26-15 lead in the first quarter before finishing the half with a 41-24 edge. Iran controlled the game throughout behind a balanced effort that saw four players score in double figures.