That's a fight worthy of a rematch or better yet two more rounds. That's if either Diego Sanchez or Martin Kampmann could've gone another minute after bloodying each other for 15 minutes.
Sanchez looked like the more busted up fighter, but he got the nod on all three scorecards, 29-28, to get the unanimous decision win in the main event at UFC on Versus 3.
"I knew I caught him with big shots. We both got caught. I got cut," Sanchez told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "The takedown, I knew I scored points with that. It thought I put the pressure on and controlled the end of the fight."
Kampmann, who said he suffered a broken hand, sounded devastated by the decision.
"I thought I won the fight. I think I won all three rounds," Kampmann said. "Definitely, Diego caught me with some good shots, but look at his face. He threw more flurries, but most of it wasn’t landing. I felt I landed way more and cleaner shots. I'm very disappointed. I can't put words on his."
Sanchez landed some heavy shots, but not nearly as many overall as Kampmann. Compustrike said Kampmann outlanded Sanchez in every round. The total was 97-45. Sanchez was also 1-of-15 on takedown attempts. Most of the Mexican-American's punches landed were power shots at 39 of the 45.
Seconds after the fight, UFC president tweeted that he thought Sanchez definitely won. Rogan couldn't understand how Sanchez could've possibly won. That's the kind of fight it was. The first round was a blowout, but the second and third were difficult to score.
Getting the win was heckuva comeback for Sanchez. He looked like he was on his way to a certain loss in the middle of the second round. The right side of his face was swollen and he had a nasty crescent cut under his eye. He was also bleeding badly from his mouth from the opening seconds of the fight.
Sanchez (23-4, 12-4 UFC) didn't give up and his constant pressure suckered Kampmann into a firefight. The Dutch striking specialist allowed himself to get trapped on the cage with two minutes left in the second.Sanchez fired 8-10 shots at Kampmann and nailed him with two big lefts. He had also cut Kampmann just his right eye seconds before. The blood seemed to throw Kampmann off mentally.
In the third, Sanchez finally scored a takedown. That made him 1-of-12 for the fight. Kampmann (17-5, 8-4 UFC) didn't stay down for the long. The final three minutes were highlighted by Sanchez charging and throwing flurries. He landed some good shots, but Kampmann landed even more with excellent counterpunching and movement. By the end of the fight, the other side of Sanchez's face was swollen and covered in blood. As the horn sounded, his corner covered the left side of his face with a towel. The blood flow was so intense it was spurting right through the towel.
