While fans at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, were treated to a memorable and thrilling war between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann tonight, many in attendance loudly voiced their disapproval with the judge’s final decision. All three judges scored the UFC on Versus 3 main event 29-28 for Sanchez, likely setting in motion yet another round of discussions throughout the MMA world, regarding judging criteria in the sport.
Early on, Kampmann punished Sanchez with crisp jabs and nicely timed counter rights, bruising the former contenders face only moments in. Sanchez continued to pursue Kampmann and looked to take the bout to the mat on several occasions, but the Xtreme Couture fighter nicely defended the attempts and kept the bout standing.
In round two, the resilient Sanchez kept up his pursuit of Kampmann, and eventually managed to stun the former middleweight during a heated striking exchange. Kampmann recovered, however, and re-established his range.
Heading into round three and with each man now bloodied, Sanchez was finally able to take Kampmann down to the mat after numerous attempts. The Danish welterweight quickly returned to his feet, however, and soon after opened yet another gash on Sanchez’s face with a hard right. After another wild striking exchange that saw Sanchez briefly threaten Kampmann, the competitive bout came to a conclusion, and all that remained to be seen was how the judges would score the fight. In the end, it appears as though Sanchez’s aggressiveness and tenacity, rather than Kampmann’s effective counter striking or wrestling, ruled the day.
Speaking afterwards with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, a dejected Kampmann stated that he believes he broke his hand in the third round.
Here are the results from tonight’s UFC on Versus broadcast.
Diego Sanchez def. Martin Kampmann via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mark Munoz def. C.B. Dollaway via TKO (punches) - R1, 0:54
Chris Weidman def. Alessio Sakara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brian Bowles def. Damacio Page via submission (guillotine choke) - R1, 3:30
Cyrille Diabate def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
Danny Castillo def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Shane Roller def. Thiago Tavares via knockout (punches) - R2, 1:28
Igor Pokrajac def. Todd Brown via TKO (strikes) - R1, 5:00
