Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) TONIGHT (Thurs., March 3, 2011) tonight served up its latest dish of mixed martial arts action from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
And it was finger lickin' good.
UFC on Versus 3 featured a welterweight showdown between inagural The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner, Diego Sanchez, and dangerous Danish striker, Martin Kampmann.
Sanchez, who ditched his "Nightmare" nickname, was ultra-confident heading into the 170-pound bout, promising to make a statement that he was ready to make another welterweight title run fresh off a big win over Paulo Thiago.
He certainly did just that, but perhaps for all the wrong reasons. For starters, his post-fight face was disgusting.
That's because Kampmann strafed Sanchez for three straight rounds with flesh-tearing blows, deploying his mixed martial arts ordinance to his face like an F-18.
"Dream" kept coming, however, baiting the way more technical striker Kampmann into several wild exchanges. He tried to mix in takedowns, but Kampmann's defense was just too good.
So Sanchez abandoned that strategy and just went savage, eating five punches just to land one in the final half of the 15-minute fight. It was painful to watch -- his face was a mess -- but it apparently impressed the three judges ringside, who all awarded him with a very controversial unanimous decision.
Great fight, questionable decision.
Decorated collegiate wrestling standouts C.B. Dollaway and Mark Munoz met in a "pivotal" middleweight match up that would vault the winner into the upper echelon of the division.
And if you expected "Wrestlemania" to run wild in this co main event, you couldn't have been more wrong.
"Doberman" got bit early with a thundering right cross to the jaw from the "Philippine Wrecking Machine," which folded up The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 finalist like a beach chair. Munoz followed him to the mat, landing several strikes to what appeared to be a defenseless Dollaway.
The referee in charge of the action, Mario Yamasaki, stepped in to save Dollaway from further abuse less than a minute after the fight started. He got up and initially disputed the "early" stoppage. The crowd booed, too.
But the replays demonstrated that Dollaway was on Queer Street and that had the fight been able to continue longer, he might still be napping now.
Munoz is back in the win column after a disappointing split decision loss to perennial middleweight contender, Yushin Okami, in his previous performance. He's also won four of his last five fights since dropping down from light heavyweight in 2009.
Dude can hit hard, too. Just ask Dollaway, Kendall Grove and Ryan Jensen, among others.
Undefeated up-and-comer Chris Weidman came into his middleweight bout against Alessio Sakara billed as one of the most promising 185-pound prospects in the sport today.
He didn't necessarily live up to that hype tonight, but he would have made Charlie Sheen proud because he left the Octagon for the first time a WINNER.
Weidman, who took the fight on just two weeks notice, relied on his superior wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to neutralize the biggest strength of "Legionarius," which are his fists, to grind out a bloody unanimous decision victory.
Sakara, a boxer by trade, didn't have many memorable moments in the fight, landing just a few big body punches to close out the second round. Weidman's skills were just too much to overcome, snapping the three-fight win streak of the American Top Team veteran.
That's got to count for something.
In the opening fight of the Versus broadcast, former WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles locked horns with hard-hitting Damacio Page.
Back in late 2008, Bowles choked out "The Angel of Death" with a first round submission (guillotine choke). In tonight's 135-pound rematch, little more than two years later, he did it again ... in the exact amount of time (3:30).
Bizarre.
Page came out swinging, and kicking, attempting to bully the good 'ole southern boy and send him home early. Bowles, however, remained calm and patient, looking for a window of opportunity to turn the tide in his favor.
That came midway through the opening frame with a well-placed punch that wobbled Greg Jackson-trained fighter, which Bowles followed up with several strikes that sent Page crashing to the canvas.
Dazed and confused, Page was unable to realize that history was about to repeat itself, failing to defend Bowles from securing his neck and putting him to sleep for a second time.
With the win, Bowles is now back in business after a year on the sidelines nursing various injuries. And you can all but guarantee that he has his sights set on wrapping that championship belt around his waist sooner rather than later.
Look out, Dominick Cruz.
That's a wrap from the " Bluegrass State," Maniacs. Now it's time to share your thoughts on everything that went down tonight inside the Octagon.
Whatcha got?
For complete UFC on Versus 3: "Sanchez vs. Kampmann" results and play-by-play coverage of the televised main card click here.
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