Fil-Am mixed martial arts fighter Brandon "The Truth" Vera lost via split decision to Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine in their light heavyweight clash in UFC 89 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England on Saturday night.

A UFC.com report said judges scored the three-round fight at 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 for Jardine.

"The two traded flash knockdowns in the final 30 seconds, and though no significant damage was done, Jardine did take over in the closing moments with a series of hard punches that seemingly stunned Vera," wrote Thomas Gerbasi.

Earlier, Vera was surprised by Jardine with quick strikes for a takedown.

"The trip to the mat wound up costing Jardine, as he got cut on top of the head while Vera worked on a kimura. After Vera let the lock go, Jardine opened up with ground strikes, but ‘The Truth’ fired back with elbows from the bottom," Gerbasi added.

In the second round, the Fil-Am scored against Jardine via a solid right hand and a kick. Jardine countered but was fended off by Vera.

Midway of the round, Vera took down Jardine. "The Dean", however, came back to his feet immediately.

Gerbasi said that Vera scored consistently in the round.

In the last round, both fighters came back, eagerly wanting to end his opponent's chance of winning.

"Vera’s leg kicks and sporadic counters continued to score points, but the crowd still got restless by the lack of sustained action. At the halfway point of the round, Jardine tried for a takedown, and though he didn’t get it, he was able to lock Vera up for a spell and score with some strikes," the report said.

In the end, it was the more aggressive Jardine who scored a barrage of hooks that was favored by the judges.

Jardine improved his win-loss-draw record to 14-5-1 while Vera now has three losses in 12 outings.

In the main event of the night, middleweight and local hero Michael Bisping scored a unanimous decision against Chris Leben.

The cards were 30-27 twice and 29-28, all in favor of Bisping, who scored his third straight win at 185 pounds.

“It was a tough fight,” said Bisping. “That was the whole gameplan, take my time, stick and move, and get a unanimous decision.”

Bisping improved to 18-1 while Leben fell to 18-5.

In other matches, Luiz "Banha" Cane scored a technical knockout win against Rameu Thierry Sokoudjou in the second round, his second straignt since a June victory against Jason Lambert. Cane now has a 10-1 record while Sokoudju dropped to 5-3.

In a welterweight fight, Paul Taylor lost to veteran Chris Lytle via split decision. The scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Lytle rose to 36-16-4 while Taylor now has 9-4-1.

Welterweight Marcus Davis, meanwhile, won via submission against Paul Kelly in the second round.

 Davis now has 20-5 while Kelly fell to 8-1.  Roy Medina, abs-cbnNEWS.com