UFC on Versus 3's Diego Sanchez "feeling the pure ecstasy of having a war"
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Say what you want about his controversial decision victory; Diego Sanchez said he proved he's got plenty of heart.
In the headliner of Thursday's UFC on Versus 3 event at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., Sanchez (23-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) bested Martin Kampmann (17-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) on points in a three-round slugfest.
"I'm feeling the pure ecstasy of having a war," Sanchez said after the Versus-televised fight.
Sanchez, who discussed a ground-oriented game plan in nearly every pre-fight interview, failed in all but one takedown attempt. Most, in fact, were clearly telegraphed and easily snuffed out. Additionally, Kampmann picked him apart with expert footwork and counter-strikes in a bloody first round.
But in the second, Sanchez pushed through his opponent's reach and unloaded a fairly steady stream of heavy blows. Kampmann was on wobbly legs multiple times in the round, and Sanchez tagged him with a handful of additional power shots in the third.
Despite Sanchez's gritty performance, which included fighting for more than two rounds with a busted lip, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) scored the fight 29-28 for Kampmann. And based on the chorus of boos that followed the official outcome (Sanchez via scores of 29-28 on all three judges' scorecards), most of the fans did, too.
Despite the critics, Sanchez, who stumbled with alcohol and marijuana before rejoining Greg Jackson's New Mexico camp in 2010, said he gave fans a show.
"I showed them once again that I've got a lot of heart and that I'm going to drop my balls in there," he said. "I'm going to give the fans what they want to see. That's the bottom line. That was my 20th fight here in the UFC octagon (including his championship run on 'The Ultimate Fighter 1,' and what a way to showcase my 20th fight than with a good war? I got the [win], and that's what matters."
Kampmann, who also suffered a close decision loss to UFC 129 title challenger Jake Shields in his previous fight, wasn't available for comment after Thursday's bout. Both he and Sanchez were taken to the hospital for stitches and X-rays. But Kampmann took to Twitter to voice his disappointment.
"At ER, waiting forever to get my hand X-ray and my cut stitched up," he wrote. "Very disappointed. I really thought I won that fight."
In fact, according to Compustrike, Kampmann landed 97 strikes to Sanchez's 45. He out-landed Sanchez by at least 10 strikes each round, and Kampmann also stuffed 14 of the Sanchez's 15 takedown attempts.
Yet it wasn't enough – not in the eyes of judges who had a fair share of scoring flubs throughout the night.
UFC president Dana White, though, took away some of Kampmann's sting by opening the company's purse strings. While other fight-night bonus winners earned $40,000, White said after the fight that he had awarded both Sanchez and Kampmann $60,000 "Fight of the Night" awards.
A few hours later, he threw in an extra $100,000 each to make it $160,000, a UFC record.
Now flush with cash, Sanchez, who's had his ups and downs during a six-year UFC career, said he simply adapted to the fight.
"What it all comes to is that I kind of threw the game plan out the window and made it a street fight," Sanchez said. "And I got the win."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Say what you want about his controversial decision victory; Diego Sanchez said he proved he's got plenty of heart.
In the headliner of Thursday's UFC on Versus 3 event at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., Sanchez (23-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) bested Martin Kampmann (17-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) on points in a three-round slugfest.
"I'm feeling the pure ecstasy of having a war," Sanchez said after the Versus-televised fight.
Sanchez, who discussed a ground-oriented game plan in nearly every pre-fight interview, failed in all but one takedown attempt. Most, in fact, were clearly telegraphed and easily snuffed out. Additionally, Kampmann picked him apart with expert footwork and counter-strikes in a bloody first round.
But in the second, Sanchez pushed through his opponent's reach and unloaded a fairly steady stream of heavy blows. Kampmann was on wobbly legs multiple times in the round, and Sanchez tagged him with a handful of additional power shots in the third.
Despite Sanchez's gritty performance, which included fighting for more than two rounds with a busted lip, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) scored the fight 29-28 for Kampmann. And based on the chorus of boos that followed the official outcome (Sanchez via scores of 29-28 on all three judges' scorecards), most of the fans did, too.
Despite the critics, Sanchez, who stumbled with alcohol and marijuana before rejoining Greg Jackson's New Mexico camp in 2010, said he gave fans a show.
"I showed them once again that I've got a lot of heart and that I'm going to drop my balls in there," he said. "I'm going to give the fans what they want to see. That's the bottom line. That was my 20th fight here in the UFC octagon (including his championship run on 'The Ultimate Fighter 1,' and what a way to showcase my 20th fight than with a good war? I got the [win], and that's what matters."
Kampmann, who also suffered a close decision loss to UFC 129 title challenger Jake Shields in his previous fight, wasn't available for comment after Thursday's bout. Both he and Sanchez were taken to the hospital for stitches and X-rays. But Kampmann took to Twitter to voice his disappointment.
"At ER, waiting forever to get my hand X-ray and my cut stitched up," he wrote. "Very disappointed. I really thought I won that fight."
In fact, according to Compustrike, Kampmann landed 97 strikes to Sanchez's 45. He out-landed Sanchez by at least 10 strikes each round, and Kampmann also stuffed 14 of the Sanchez's 15 takedown attempts.
Yet it wasn't enough – not in the eyes of judges who had a fair share of scoring flubs throughout the night.
UFC president Dana White, though, took away some of Kampmann's sting by opening the company's purse strings. While other fight-night bonus winners earned $40,000, White said after the fight that he had awarded both Sanchez and Kampmann $60,000 "Fight of the Night" awards.
A few hours later, he threw in an extra $100,000 each to make it $160,000, a UFC record.
Now flush with cash, Sanchez, who's had his ups and downs during a six-year UFC career, said he simply adapted to the fight.
"What it all comes to is that I kind of threw the game plan out the window and made it a street fight," Sanchez said. "And I got the win."
