Kampmann submits Alves at UFC on FX 2
Martin Kampmann came back from what looked like a certain defeat to beat Thiago Alves with a third-round submission at UFC on FX 2 in Sydney, Australia.
With the win, Kampmann takes one step closer to entering the welterweight title picture.
Kampmann had Alves hurt early in the first round, but couldn't capitalize on it. Alves came on strong late in the first after taking Kampmann to the mat and controlling the action. Alves turned to his powerful striking in the second round and opened some cuts on Kampmann's face.
Kampmann looked to get hurt by a punch from Alves with about a minute left in the third round, but as he fell to the mat, Kampmann rolled into a guillotine choke on Alves and got the tapout.
The event also featured two semifinal bouts in the UFC's four-man tournament to determine the promotion's first flyweight champion, having recently decided to add the 125-pound weight class.
In the first of the two flyweight semis, Demetrious Johnson took on Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall. Both fighters had previously fought at 135, with Johnson falling to current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in his previous bout. McCall fought three times in the Tachi Palace Fights promotion at 125 after fighting at 135 in previous bouts, including a stint in the WEC.
The first two rounds were close, with both Johnson and McCall landing strikes. McCall seemed to have the advantage on the ground, but was far from dominant. That changed in the third round, where McCall took total control of the bout. But in the end, Johnson was awarded a split decision, which didn't sit well with the Sydney crowd.
During the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said the fight was incorrectly scored and should have been declared a draw after three rounds. According to the tournament rules, that would have triggered a fourth "victory" round, basically the UFC's equivalent to overtime. Since that didn't happen, McCall and Johnson will now fight a rematch at a later date.
In the second flyweight bout, reigning Shooto bantamweight champ (123 pounds) Yasuhiro Urushitan made his UFC debut against former UFC and WEC bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez, who moved down from 135.
After nearly getting a submission late in the first round, Benavidez came out strong and quickly in the second, laying Urushitani out with a counter right hand before the referee stopped the fight just 11 seconds into the round.
Benavidez will now face the winner of the Johnson-McCall rematch at some point in the future with the winner becoming the first UFC flyweight champion.
The main card opened with a middleweight bout between former "The Ultimate Fighter" champion Court McGee and Constantinos Philippou. The fight was close, with both fighters able to land some big shots. But in the end, Philippou emerged with a tight unanimous decision, winning 29-28 on all three judges' cards.
In one of the bloodier bouts of the night, New Zealander James Te Huna put a pounding on Aaron Rosa in a light heavyweight scrap, scoring a stoppage at 2:09 of the first round of the final preliminary fight. Rosa took some big shots early and remained on his feet, but couldn't withstand the onslaught.
Before that, another light heavyweight bout ended similarly with a first-round stoppage. Anthony Perosh put an end to Nick Penner's UFC debut with just one second left in the first after raining fists down on the newbie, who was unable to fight back.
Featherweight Steven Siler got a unanimous decision win over Cole Miller. It was the second time Siler had beaten a member of the Miller family in the Octagon, having beaten Cole's brother, Micah, when they were competitors on "The Ultimate Fighter."
Middleweight Andrew Craig made a successful and impressive UFC debut. After falling behind in the first round, he responded to take control of Rounds 2 and 3 to take a unanimous decision win over Aussie Kyle Noke.
The shortest bout of the night belonged to T.J. Waldburger and Jake Hecht. Waldburger needed just 55 seconds to get Hecht to submit from an armbar.
Daniel Pineda opened the UFC on FUEL TV prelim broadcast with a triangle-armbar submission win over Mackens Semerzier just 2:05 into the first round.
Prior to that, former LSU fullback Shawn Jordan, who won two national titles with the Tigers, scored a second-round TKO win over fellow heavyweight Oli Thompson. Jordan, who weighed in at 245 1/2 for the bout, celebrated with an impressive backflip.
