Heavyweight Fight of the Night Contender at UFC 131

The matchup between John-Olav Einemo and Dave Herman was not seen by experts as one of the potential fights of the night, at least compared with some of the other UFC 131 contenders for the honor.

But fight between the two promising prospects turned into one of the more memorable back-and-forth brawls the UFC has seen in the division in some time.

Dave Herman, ironically nicknamed "Pee Wee," ended up taking home the win by TKO after surviving a few onslaughts on the feet as well as a tough position on the ground.

Einemo is one of the most accomplished BJJ experts in the world, although his size has a lot to do with it, and he had Herman in a tough position on the ground in the first round. He got Herman in side control and then moved in to apply pressure and to perhaps go for a choke up near the fence.

But Herman was able to wriggle out of the position and got back to his feet. Einemo was actually doing solidly on the feet despite not being known as a striker, but the 28-pound lighter Herman, at least according to the weigh-in numbers before this one.

Herman seemingly outlasted Einemo, who had trained for about five years on his striking including stops in Thailand. Einemo landed some big shots but a huge knee in the second round followed by a punch sent the 6'6, 260-plus pound "Viking" sprawling to the canvas.

Eventually Herman was able to get Einemo down again in the corner of the cage after Einemo had used his excellent jiu-jitsu to hold off Herman and get back to his feet. He rained down shots on him and forced a stoppage that surprised many observers.

Einemo seemed ready to go in for the kill at a few different times during the UFC heavyweight contest, but he didn't seem to be able to match the cardio of the smaller, fitter man, although both looked like giants in the cage.

Herman, despite eating some big right hand shots and knees at times as well, was seemingly enjoying himself in the cage at many different times but he told Joe Rogan he wasn't having as much fun as he looked to many observers as he ate some big shots from his massive opponent.

The second-round TKO vaults Herman into the middle part of the UFC heavyweight division and sets up some intriguing future contests as the league continues to add depth to what could end up being its signature tier of fighters when it's all said and done and more fighters enter the division from other sports as well, or from strong wrestling backgrounds.

Herman got the win in what looked like a Fight of the Night contender at the time at UFC 131 in Vancouver, setting himself up as a prospect to watch in the near future and beyond.