Last night, the UFC put on the first of four free events on Versus, headlined by a welterweight bout between Denmark native Martin "the Hitman" Kampmann and Ultimate Fighter season 1 winner Diego "the Dream" Sanchez. However, the undercard was full of frenzied (and often bloody) action. The broadcast began with former WEC Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles making his UFC debut against "The Angel of Death" Damaico Page, in a rematch from WEC 35. In what has to be a first in MMA, Bowles choked out Page with the same guillotine choke he used in their prior matchup at the exact same time as the first bout (3:30 into the first round). The first round finish earned Bowles Submission of the Night honors.
Next up, Italian veteran Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara went toe-to-toe with wrestler Chris Weidman, who was making his UFC debut as an injury replacement, in a middleweight contest. Weidman, a two-time All American at Hofstra University, showed early on that he had the tools to hang with someone the cailber of Sakara, making for an entertaining first round. Midway through the second round, Weidman, who used his wrestling skills to take down Sakara, opened up a big gash on the forehead of Legionarius,covering both men in blood. Weidman followed up his second round dominance with an equally impressive thrid, scoring more takedowns en route to a unanimous decision victory, improving his MMA record to 5-0.
The next fight, a middleweight bout between CB "the Doberman" Dolloway and Mark "the Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz, ended early, and not without controversy. Both men came out swinging, and Munoz was able to stun Dolloway with an uppercut. Dolloway went, but didn't immediately appear to be knocked out, as Munoz went on the attack. However, veteran referee Mario Yamasaki determined that Dolloway couldn't intelligently defend, and intervened, stopping the fight and giving Munoz the TKO victory. The decision was met by a chorus of boos from the crowd at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, but it stood nonetheless.
Up next was the main event between the Hitman and the Dream (a nickname which was making its debut, as Sanchez had previously gone by the moniker "the Nightmare"). The first round was dominated by Kampmann, who was able to score a knockdown and stuff each one of Sanchez's takedowns. He also opened up Sanchez in that round, which was only a harbinger of things to come. The second round saw Sanchez land several combinations, but still have trouble taking down the Dane. This close round was capped off by a late flurry by Sanchez, which opened up Kampmann. The war of atrition reached its climax in the third and final round, with both men swinging for the fences. Sanchez was finally able to score a takedown a minute into the third, but lost the position soon after. In what was standup bout the rest of the way, Kampmann was able to bust up Sanchez late, but as it turned out, it wasn't enough. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Sanchez, who had both his eyes swollen shut by the end of the fight. An entertaining fight night capped off by a main event which took Fight of the Night honors.
