Diego Sanchez Vs Martin Kampmann: UFC Versus Showdown
By Ben Bieker
Main Event:
Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez (22-4-0) VS. Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann (17-4-0)
Martin is a big welterweight as he was originally a middleweight. Diego I believe is still better suited for Lightweight than Welterweight. A lot of people fail to realize that Martin was the first to put Paulo Thiago in his place, besides Jon Fitch. Plus, with his performance against Jake Shields, in what I thought was a winning effort, he showed that he has some of the wrestling in the division. Martin’s size and wrestling ability will not allow Diego to use his best weapon, his ground game. This fight will turn into the same fight we saw when Diego took on John Hathaway in which the bigger fighter is able to control him on the ground, and out strike him on the feet.
The Bottom Line: Look for Martin to take a unanimous decision win as he is able to control a resilient Diego, but is unable to finish him.
Co-Main Event:
C.B. “The Doberman” Dollaway (11-2-0) vs. Mark “The Philippine Wrecking Machine” Munoz (9-2-0)
Once again Mark is matched up with another wrestler for the third fight in a row. This is the first time C.B. has to take on another wrestling based fighter since his loss to Tom Lawlor. On the ground C.B. has the advantage in the grappling department since the wrestling looks to be pretty even here, but C.B. has the edge as his sub missions are better. Given Mark works closely with the Nog brothers, but somehow he has not learned the ground game as well as C.B. has. Standing C.B. may possess the finesse in the striking department. The power on the other hand goes to mark though.
The Bottom Line: Look for C.B. to have some trouble early with the power of Mark, but eventually he will get it to the ground. From there he will pound away until the ref stops the fight late in the second due to strikes.
Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara (15-7-0) VS. Chris Weidman (4-0-0)
Not much to say here Chris takes the fight on short notice. Unfortunately, he does not have the same experience as Brian Ebersole, but Chris’s outcome will be just as impressive, if not more. Sakara likes to stand which will be bad since Chris has been training with Ray Longo for years. The same man that gave Matt Serra the ability to put GSP’s lights out. He is also a former All American wrestler, who almost beat Andrea Galvao in a close submission wrestling match. He definitely takes after Matt Serra in that department.
The Bottom Line: Look for him to put Serra-Longo fight team on the map with an impressive win in the second round. After testing the waters standing in the first he will take it down and submit Alessio in the second.
Brian Bowles (9-1-0, #5 Bantamweight) VS. Damacio “The Angel of Death” Page (12-5-0)
Brian has more ability to win this fight than Damacio does. Not only has Brian beat him before, but he is better at Damacio’s strengths than he is. When Damacio gets threatened by someone who is a better wrestler than him, he generally folds. This was seen in his fight with Demetrious Johnson. Damacio’s best chance would be on the feet if he can keep it there, but Brian is a really good wrestler. The one drawback for Brian is he is coming off a long layoff, and a severe injury. As long as he can get past that he will win.
The Bottom Line: Brian by second round submission after being a little too confident on the feet in the first.
The UnderCard on Facebook:
Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (31-12-0) VS. Danny “Last Call” Castillo (10-3-0)
Joe Stevenson said it the best when stating that he had a horrible 2010. He went 0-2, while his opponent went 2-1. His loss though came to the last man to hold the WEC belt in Anthony Pettis. For Joe to win he will want to get the fight to the ground. He has a definite advantage over most fighters there, plus after being knocked out in his last fight he should not give too much confidence to his standup. Danny has shown good power in his hands, and he should follow plan and try to beat Joe up there.
The Bottom Line: Stevenson may have hit a rough patch in his career, but Danny is still too green to beat someone of Joe’s experience. Look for Joe to have a rough time, but pull out a submission in the third round.
Steve “The Cure” Cantwell (7-3-0) VS. Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate (16-7-0)
Ring rust is real, and Steve will have to fight through it if he wants to win this fight. He should also reconsider standing up with Cyrille as he is a really good kick boxer. Given Steve does have decent hands, but there is no way his hands are better than Cyrille’s. He should use his ground game that is also fairly strong. You saw it with his arm breaking submission of Razak Al-Hassan. Cyrille’s plan is simple keep it standing. He will lose if the fight goes to the ground, and at his advanced fighting age his career cannot suffer another loss.
The Bottom Line: Steve is a good fighter and hopefully catches a break here. Look for him to put in some work for a unanimous decision win.