Bahadurzada, Taleb, Miranda among winners during UFC 196 prelims

Welterweight Bout: Siyar Bahadurzada def. Brandon Thatch via 3rd-round submission (arm-triangle choke)

Siyar Bahadurzada made up for lost time with a third-round submission of Brandon Thatch.

A litany of injuries kept Bahadurzada out of action for the past two years and he faded into irrelevance in the deep welterweight division. Both he and Thatch came into this fight needing to avoid a third straight loss.

The first round saw plenty of action, maybe too much as both men slowed after five minutes. Bahadurzada went to a ground-based attack for the remainder of the fight and Thatch had no answer. Except for a pair of stand-ups, Bahadurzada stayed stuck to Thatch in his guard while landing plenty of punches.

Bahadurzada could have cruised to a decision, but he chose to go for the kill in the closing minutes. An arm-triangle choke caused the tap out, giving Bahadurzada his first win since his UFC debut in April 2012.

Welterweight Bout: Nordine Taleb def. Erick Silva via 2nd-round KO

Nordine Taleb's level-headed strategy created an exciting finish on Saturday.

Faced with the notoriously wild Erick Silva, the 34-year-old Taleb had to be at his sharpest to avoid the Brazilian's unpredictable attacks. There was no question that he figured Silva out when he caught a body kick and had Silva hopping on one leg for a brief moment in the second round.

That moment was all Taleb needed to win the fight. He splattered Silva with a straight right and confirmed the finish with another haymaker to his prone foe.

It was Taleb's fourth win in the UFC, but more importantly he recorded his first knockout for the company.

Middleweight Bout: Vitor Miranda def. Marcelo Guimaraes via 2nd-round TKO

Marcelo Guimaraes learned the hard way that standing with Vitor Miranda is a bad idea.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt struggled to drag Miranda to the mat and he paid for it in brutal fashion when Miranda clobbered him with a head kick in the second round.

"Lex Luthor" had already peppered Guimaraes with elbows to the head and kicks to the body, so the shot to the head was the beginning of the end for Guimaraes. Referee Chris Tognoni stopped the fight while Guimaraes was still being propped up by the Octagon fence.

This was the third straight TKO-win for Miranda, who is establishing himself as a dangerous striker in the middleweight division.

Featherweight Bout: Darren Elkins def. Chas Skelly via unanimous decision

Another tough opponent, another decision win for Darren Elkins.

Making his 14th appearance for the UFC, Elkins controlled Chas Skelly with his trademark suffocating wrestling. He was forced to defend against a pair of deep heel hooks from Skelly, but once his legs were clear, Elkins was free to rain punches down on "The Scrapper."

The second and third verse were the same as the first. Elkins' advantage actually grew with every round, topped off by a third round that saw Skelly having to put the majority of his energy into stopping takedowns.

It wasn't pretty, but Elkins won for the fourth time in six fights, all decision victories.

Skelly has a four-fight win streak snapped. He loses for just the second time in his MMA career.