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The UFC served up a great menu at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, KY as UFC on Versus 3 went off without a hitch. All the fighters brought their all and left nothing to spare. Diego Sanchez brought the house down with a rousing fight against world-ranked Martin Kampmann. The Dream got a surprise as Kampmann brought the heavy guns and used precise footwork to pick apart Sanchez in the first round. Kampmann put on a sprawl clinique as he continuously stuffed the takedown attempts of Sanchez. Diego got dropped by a vicious right hand from Martin, but got his wits back with a come back as he threw blind combinations that actually landed. These combos offset the precision striking enough to carry over into the third round and steal the show. Sanchez rocked Kampmann multiple times but couldn’t seem to close the deal. However, the judges gave it to Sanchez via a unanimous decision. Sanchez clearly agreed with the call as he stated after the fight, "I knew I caught him with some big shots." Sanchez also said, "I thought I won the fight by putting the pressure on and controlling the end of the fight."
Kampmann certainly didn’t agree and made it clear as he said, "I thought I won the fight. I think I won all three rounds. He was throwing a lot of flurries, but most of it wasn’t landing. I feel I was landing way more and cleaner shots. I'm very disappointed."
Whatever the feelings, the outcome remains the same. Sanchez has now won two straight Fight of The Night awards with a total of four Fight of the Nights in his past four victories. That’s highly impressive, but no matter how tough you are and how resilient you are, it just won’t be enough for King GSP.
Mark Munoz put on an artillery show, as he easily dispatched the All-American wrestler and TUF alumni C.B. Dollaway in 54 seconds of the first round. Munoz unbelievably didn’t control the entire fight as C.B. took him down easily at first and showed control in the top position until Munoz was able to scramble to his feet and then land a straight cross to the button that rattled Dollaway. Munoz followed this up with a massive uppercut that sent the All-American to the mat. A few shots later from Mark and the ref had to call the fight awarding Mark Munoz the TKO victory in just 54 seconds of the first round. Dollaway opposed the results but the fact is he was dropped and couldn’t defend himself. So keep protesting there, Dollaway. See how far that gets you.
Chris Weidman impressed the MMA community as he withstood a respectful outburst by Alessio Sakara as Alessio lay on some nice combinations and kept his feet well. Sakara did get opened up but won the round. The second round showed a renewed Weidman as the undefeated prospect took the UFC veteran to the ground and proceeded to open Sakara up with brutal ground and pound. One particular elbow sliced Alessio open badly. The third round was more of the same, yet the Legionarius was able to keep his wits and finish out the fight. The fights judged a clean sweep unanimous decision win for Chris Weidman. The young prospect is riding an impressive undefeated win streak and will certainly be closely watched by the UFC brass.
This next fight couldn’t have been more coincidental or surreal. In their first clash, former WEC Champion Brian Bowles defeated contender Damacio Page via guillotine choke at 3:30 in round one. Three long years later and Bowles clocks the exact same result over the same fighter, at the same time mark. In his first fight, since losing the WEC Bantamweight Championship to Dominick Cruz, Bowles set out to get back on track against a fighter he defeated as previously described. This time around in their rematch, Bowles finished Damacio once more in the first round by, yup; you guessed it, 3:30 of the first round. Very ironic it seems, but just as delicious a win for Bowles. Bowles might now have set himself up for a possible rematch with the man that took his title, Dominick Cruz.
The night was absolutely exciting with many more crucial fights that were fought with tremendous heart. Now the stage is set for UFC 128: Jones vs. Shogun for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The big boys have some large shoes to fill if they want to leave that usual delicious taste in the MMA connoisseurs’ mouth. Look for these warriors to rise to the occasion. Till our next conflict... have a nice day.
OFFICIAL MAIN CARD RESULTS
Diego Sanchez defeated Martin Kampmann via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mark Munoz defeated C.B. Dollaway via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 0:54
Chris Weidman defeated Alessio Sakara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brian Bowles defeated Damacio Page via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 3:30
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Cyrille Diabate defeated Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
Danny Castillo defeated Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Shane Roller defeated Thiago Tavares via knockout (punches) - Round 2, 1:28
Takeya Mizugaki defeated Reuben Duran via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Dongi Yang defeated Rob Kimmons via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:47
Rousimar Palhares defeated Dave Branch via submission (kneebar) - Round 2, 1:44
Igor Pokrajac defeated Todd Brown via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 5:00
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