UFC Live on Versus 3 Recap

UFC Live on Versus 3 went down Thursday night on March 3, and the event was amazingly full of action. There were submissions, knock outs, decision, and even questionable controversy or two.

Fight Results:
Pokrajac receives Rnd1 TKO win over Brown
Palhares receives Rnd2 Submission Win over Branch
Yang receives Rnd2 TKO Win over Kimmons
Mizugaki receives Split Decision Win over Duran
Roller receives Rnd2 KO Win & Knockout of the Night over Tavares
Castillo receives Unanimous Decision Win over Stevenson
Diabate receives Unanimous Decision Win over Cantwell
Bowles receives Rnd1 Submission Win & Submission of the Night over Page
Weidman receives Unanimous Decision Win over Sakara
Munoz receives Rnd1 KO Win over Dolloway
Sanchez receives Unanimous Decision Win over Kampmann & both received Fight of the Night





Pokrajac vs Brown
Honorable mentions from the preliminary card will include three bouts starting with the first bout of the night between Light heavyweights with Croatian hard hitter Igor Pokrajac getting a Rnd1 TKO win over Todd Brown. The bout went even with both exchanging good strikes while Brown looked to clinch & take the fight to the ground. Pokrajac later would land a head kick that hurt Brown and would land more strikes that would lead to a knee to the head that sent him crumbling down. The round would end with Pokrajac landing strikes to the head of a turtled up Brown who would not rise to his feet after the bell which prompted the referee to call the an end to the bout. In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Pokrajac would request a match up with former 205lb champion Tito Ortiz as an attempt to fight a big name opponent who may be at the end of his career.

Roller vs Tavares
The second honorable mention will be the Knockout of the Night performance by WEC vet Shane Roller who faced a bulked up Thiago Tavares in a Lightweight contest. Rnd1 saw Tavares dominating Roller with striking & at one point had him seriously rocked, though he didn't capitalize which lead to the end of the round. Rnd2 opened with both striking again with more pressure coming from Roller. While pushing towards a corner, Roller would land a straight right that sent Tavares falling backwards hitting his head on the canvas that was followed by three more strong shots on the ground that forced the ref to call a stop to the bout giving Roller the Rnd2 KO win.

Castillo vs Stevenson
The third honorable mention will be a Lightweight bout with WEC vet Danny Castillo earning a Unanimous Decision win over TUF2 winner & longtime UFC veteran Joe Stevenson. Rnd1 saw a somewhat even match that could have been given to either fighter. Rnd2 & Rnd3 would prove to be in favor of Castillo with domination over Stevenson with little difficulty. One judge would see all three rounds to Castillo with a 30-27 while the other two judges saw one round going to Stevenson by scoring 29-28/29-28. Prior to this event UFC President Dana White had said that this is a must win bout for Stevenson after coming off two losses with this loss making it a three fight losing streak. Even though he is a winner of a season of TUF which comes with a 6-figure contract, Stevenson is not safe from being released from the promotion, especially since the absorption of the WEC's 155lb roster adds fear for Lightweight fighters that they are more expendable than before.

Bowles vs Page 2
The first bout to start off the main card presented a Bantamweight rematch between now former WEC 135lb champion Brian Bowles & Damacio Page. The original match up that took place in 2008 ended with a Rnd1 Submission by way of Guillotine Choke. Amazingly enough the rematch that took place actually played out & resulted in the same way as the first encounter. The bout started with Page coming out fast & strong with strikes just like the original match. Page would dominate the exchanges throwing his entire body into every strike until Bowles would land a punch that rocked Page & led to a takedown where Bowles would land some G&P. Bowles then took top position & turned it around into a Guillotine Choke that soon rendered Page unconscious at 3:30 of the first round, the exact time of the original finish in 2008. The Rnd1 Submission win came as Bowles' first win since his first loss in his career which was a result of an injury due to a broken hand. Bowles is now considerably two wins away from fighting to take back his title.

Sakara vs Weidman
The second bout of the main card was a Middleweight contest between striker Allesio Sakara & an experienced grappler in late replacement Chris Weidman. Rnd1 saw Sakara utilize his striking to pick at Weidman and stuff each takedown attempt, though Weidman did well in exchanges I would see the first round to Sakara. Rnd2 saw Weidman go more on the offensive getting a takedown & opening a cut on Sakara. After some control on the ground the ref breaks them apart & has Sakara checked by the ringside physician. The round would end with more exchanges and nothing too significant landing. Rnd3 starts with little strikes until Weidman gets another takedown & grinds Sakara for some time until being stood up. Weidman then gets another takedown with continued grinding until being stood up again, which was followed by another takedown coming before the final bell. Weidman would get the upset being a late replacement with just two weeks notice earning a dominant Unanimous Decision win with all three judges scoring 30-27/30-27/30-27 awarding him his fifth career win as an undefeated prospect.

Munoz vs Dolloway
The third bout on the main card went fast as two former NCAA 1 All-American wrestlers met with Mark Munoz facing C.B. Dolloway. The bout started with a low kick from Dolloway that was answered with a clinch from Munoz. Dolloway turned the clinch into a takedown making it look like a college wrestling match until he quickly allows Munoz to stand. Munoz would then land a solid right hand on Dolloway's chin including  a couple more shots while he stumbles and is followed by a few shots as only one camera angle caught Dolloway in a daze that justified the stoppage just under a minute into the bout. Dolloway would arise on his own claiming the stoppage was premature, though review would show that Dolloway was dazed as he put up no defense while being struck on the canvas. The stoppage earned Munoz the Rnd1 KO win.

Sanchez vs Kampmann
The main event did not disappoint as there was action, exchanges, and pure heart. The bout featured former Thai boxing champion Martin Kampmann facing TUF1 winner Diego Sanchez who came out as The Dream for the first time. Rnd1 went as many expected with Kampmann using his superior striking experience doing some serious damage to the face of Sanchez while stuffing every takedown attempt. After the first takedown attempt was stopped & released, Kampmann landed a straight right that sent Sanchez on his back for a short time before getting back up. The round continued to the end with Kampmann severely damaging the face of Sanchez with dominant technical strikes & knees to the face that won him the round. Rnd2 started with another failed takedown attempt from Sanchez, which led him to realize that to really be offensive against Kampmann would mean going back to his brawler style. Just past the midway point of the round Sanchez pushes Kampmann into the cage initiating a brawl, which gives Sanchez the close range to land strong shots that rock Kampmann & send him scurrying away from the brawl. Sanchez continued to push the pace & instigated another brawl that tagged Kampmann again & I believe helped give him the round. Going into Rnd3 Kampmann was visibly slowing in pace as Sanchez looked to take advantage trying to close the distance to land a heavy shot.Sanchez would look to land the stronger punches leading to him finally getting his much wanted takedown just past the midway point of the round. With a minute left in the round Kampmann lands a right hand punch that looked to have broke it as he would shake it & not throw it again. Sanchez followed it with two more small brawls against the cage which leads to the closing seconds when both fighters try to end with a flurry to steal the round, though I scored it to Sanchez with the takedown & offensive pace mixed with brawling. Immediately after the final bell both fighters embraced each other for the thrill of the bout & Sanchez's face was seriously damaged with blood coming from his mouth & cuts reminiscent of the damage he received against BJ Penn. Awaiting the announcement of the judges scores, both fighters stood beside the ref waiting for their hand to be raised. Similar to how I scored it, all three judges scrored the bout a Unanimous Decision with scores of 29-28/29-28/29-28 which thrilled Sanchez, & made Kampmann shake his head in disappointment. Fans in the arena felt Kampmann won the bout, but after re-watching it myself I still saw it going to Sanchez with Rnd2 & Rnd3.

On a side not, the only bout I watched that disappointed me was the Light heavyweight bout between French Muay Thai striker Cyrille Diabate & Steve Cantwell. Rnd1 saw Cantwell get a takedown which was expected, but then let Diabate back up. Diabate would then rock Cantwell with hard strikes that sent him down, but did not capitalize on. Rnd2 & Rnd3 would be identical with Diabate stuffing takedowns & picking at Cantwell with shots. What makes this such a disappointing bout was that Diabate did not try to finish the bout. Diabate would leave his hands down and just throwing shots with enough power to stun & keep Cantwell away. Diabate appeared to not be taking the bout serously at all at the beginning of Rnd2. The three judges scored a Unanimous Decision in favor of Diabate with scores of 30-27/30-25/30-26. Immediately following the decision, fans booed Diabate for basically not even trying to make a statement, which was odd seeing as he was coming off a loss.