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Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White brought a show to Tampa as a test – and apparently, Tampa passed.

“We’re very happy with the turnout,” White said, sitting ringside. “We brought a Fight Night here first to test out the waters, to see how a pay-per-view would do and we’re very happy with the turnout, especially with all the other stuff going on here.”

As much of Tampa recovered from Gasparilla celebrations, UFC Fight Night, which aired live on Spike TV, drew 7,596 mixed martial arts fans to the University of South Florida Sun Dome Saturday night.

And the night’s six preliminary bouts and four fights aired on Spike TV did not disappoint.

In the main event, Joe Lauzon submitted Jeremy Stephens 4:43 into the second round via an arm bar.

Prior to the fight Stephens assured he would attempt to make his presence felt early on. And in the opening seconds, he unleashed a wild hook, missing.

Lauzon, who’s game plan was to get Stephens to the canvas and go to work, didn’t take long in his attempts either. He took an early stab at an ankle hook, which ended with Lauzon on his back.

Later in the round, shortly after the pair worked back to their feet, Lauzon hit the move again – this time with success. The Bridgewater, Mass. native then attempted to bar Stephens’ left arm, but Stephens broke free, delivering a handful of punches.

In the second round, after the two exchanged advantage from the top position, Lauzon, who sustained a cut just above the hairline on the right side of his head from an elbow, latched on with a successful bar of Stephens’ left arm, forcing the tap out.

“There’s nothing quite like a nice arm bar, someone told me one time,” Lauzon said after getting stitches. “I would much rather go for the finish and risk being put on bottom than having some boring fight where I’m just trying to maintain top position. It’s a fight. I’m not trying to loose control, I want to finish though. If I see any opportunity for a submission, I’m going to go for it.”

Inside the interview room, Lauzon’s lack of tattoos and his unassuming demeanor was mentioned. When asked if his second career main event would change things, Lauzon prefers to be the guy no one sees coming.

“I definitely think it would improve my fighting ability, to get tattoos or something,” Lauzon joked. “I’d rather be the unassuming guy. I like to fight because I like the competition of it. I’m not trying to go out and intimidate people and start fights.”

On the undercard: Anthony Jackson stopped St. Petersburg native Luigi Fioravanti 4:39 into the first round. Despite the early TKO, Jackson was his own worse critic.

“I’m not satisfied with just winning. I want to be more than just a winner, if that’s even possible,” said Jackson, a native of Dublin, Ga. “I want to be the best there is. In standup, I want to be the best there is and on the ground. To get that way, I just need to [improve] on my game.”

In what earned the fight of the night tag, Josh Neer tapped out Mac Danzig with a triangle choke 3:36 into the second round.

During a busy first round, a right by Danzig sent Neer to the floor, allowing Danzig to mount. Somehow, Neer locked on to Danzig’s head with is legs, but Danzig whipped around to get free. After the two made it back to their feet, Neer, with blood streaming from his left cheek and the right side of his face red, raises both hands as he approached Danzig. A gesture likely informing Danzig he was in for a fight.

In Round 2, Danzig slipped while attempting a double leg takedown, allowing Neer to gain the advantage and land elbows to Danzig’s head. Danzig stood with Neer latched on to his back, eventually gaining the top position.

Moments later, Neer caught Danzig in a partial triangle choke with his legs. Danzig attempted to stand, but quickly went down, tapping out at the 3:36 mark of the second round

“I came to this fight ready to die,” Neer said. “I wasn’t going to leave this fight without a win.”

Cain Velasquez stopped Denis Stojnic after the referee halted the bout 2:34 into the second round. The constant pounding to Stojnic’s head earned Velasquez the knockout of the night.

Kurt Pellegrino collected a second-round tap out at the 3:14 mark against Rob Emerson after a rear-legged choke; Dan Miller won via a first round tap out after applying a guillotine on Jake Rosholt; Matt Veach earned a technical knockout 4:35 into the first round of Matt Grice; Gleison Tibau earned a first round tap out after applying a guillotine choke on Rich Clementi; Nick Catone won via a second round tap out of Derek Downey; Matt Riddle won by unanimous decision against Steve Bruno.