UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture won a close decision over Brandon (The Truth) Vera in a drab light heavyweight fight Saturday at UFC 105 in Manchester, England.

The mixed martial arts contest was hardly a barnburner with the two stuck in a clinch for much of the 15 minutes.

The three judges scored it 29-28 for the 46-year-old Couture, who snapped a two-fight losing streak. Vera probably had reason to be unhappy at the decision.

"I thought I won," said Vera. "I left it all out there. ... I don't know man, I don't know."

"Thanks, judges," he added sarcastically.

In the co-main event at the M.E.N. Arena, English welterweight Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy won a decision over American Mike (Quick) Swick in a war of attrition contested mainly at the fence for the first two rounds before opening up in the third.

The 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 victory earns Hardy a title shot at Canadian Georges St. Pierre, who was watching cageside. The champion, looking stylish in a suit and open-necked shirt, entered the cage to shake his hand, sportingly saying Hardy presented a "big threat."

Earlier, English middleweight Michael (The Count) Bisping scored a much-needed victory by stopping Canadian Denis Kang at 4:42 of the second round.

It was a good night for English fighters, who went 7-3 on the card.

Fans delighted

Couture ran a gauntlet of enthusiastic fans, who pawed at him as he entered the arena to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.

Vera, 32, opened fast against Couture with a left high kick and right hand.

They clinched after that and were stuck to each other like glue at the fence. Referee Marc Goddard separated them late in the round but seconds later it was back to the fence and the round ended to some boos.

Couture, who took a finger in the eye early in the second, soon had Vera backed into the fence again and the crowd didn't like it. The fighters were separated again and Vera hurt Couture with a kick to the body and follow-up punch. Couture, visibly in pain, backed away and ended up on his back with Vera on top.

Vera (11-4) was unable to take advantage and the referee stood them up again.

In the third, Couture (17-10) punished Vera at the fence with a flurry of punches and then it was back to the clinch. Vera scored with some late body kicks. There were more boos and the two hugged at the fence before Vera took Couture down. But Couture got back up and the two were throwing as the fight ended.

Good night for British fighters

England's Ross (The Real Deal) Pearson, winner of the lightweight division of Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter," showed crisp striking and a bristling arsenal of kicks and knees in an impressive TKO win over veteran American Aaron Riley (28-12-1).

James (Lightning) Wilks, the American-based Brit who won the welterweight portion of TUF's Season 9, did not fare as well, losing by TKO to American Matt (The Immortal) Brown.

Welterweight John (The Hitman) Hathaway bullied Paul (Relentless) Taylor on the ground en route to a unanimous, lopsided decision in a rare all-English matchup.

German lightweight Denis Siver upset England's Paul (Tellys) Kelly with a spinning back kick to the liver, toppling him backward to the canvas midway through the fight. Kelly was clearly hurt and offered token resistance when he was allowed to get back to his feet. Referee Dan Miragliotta, seeing Kelly had nothing left as Siver punched away, quickly stepped in at 2:53 of the second round.

English lightweight Terry Etim submitted American Shannon Gugerty with an impressive arm-in guillotine choke and body triangle at 1:24 of the second round. Gugerty (12-4) held on for as long as he could but his legs were twitching when he finally tapped out.

England's Nick Osipczak stopped American Matt Riddle at 3:53 of the third round of an entertaining up-and-down welterweight affair. Osipczak (5-1) finally mounted Riddle (3-1) with less than two minutes left and pounded away until the referee stepped in.

In a battle of UFC newcomers, Swedish light-heavyweight Alexander (The Mauler) Gustafsson improved to 9-0 with a 41-second knockout of Jared Hamman with a right hand that sent the American's mouthpiece flying.

English lightweight Andre Winner, runner-up to Pearson in "The Ultimate Fighter," opened the card with a bang when he knocked out American Roli (The Crazy Cuban) Delgado with an overhand right at 3:22 of the first round.