UFC Fight Night 27 gave UFC fans the long awaited rematch between UFC welterweight contenders Carlos Condit and Martin Kampman. Their last bout marked Condit’s inaugural UFC fight and ended in an extremely controversial decision with Kampman taking the victory. In the first round Condit, however, was not looking like a man hell-bent on redemption. Kampman was landing takedowns at will and outstriking Condit pretty readily. Condit managed to make it out of the first round fairly unscathed though. I don’t know what his cornermen told him after the first round, but he came out a completely different fighter. He was defending Kampman’s takedown attempts, and really started to find his range. Going into the third round, Carlos Condit was a man on a mission. He opened the round with an attempted back spin fist followed by a back spin kick. He started backing Kampman up and was able to open a cut on his face. Once Condit fully found his range, he really turned up the pace and started actively hunting Kampman. Kampman just couldn’t get away from Condit as Condit just picked him apart. Kampman was able to make it out of the round by the skin of his teeth. The fourth round, which proved to be the final round did not last very long. Kampman was able to land a trip right out of the gate, but after that, it was the Carlos Condit show. He landed a huge left hook to Kampman’s head, then another to the body. Condit grabbed him into the clinch and started unloading knees. As Kampman buckled, Condit landed a couple punches as referee Herb Dean stepped in to put an end to it.
Winner via TKO: Carlos Condit
Ultimate Fighter season eleven winner Court McGee took on Ultimate Fighter Smashes winner Robert Whittaker. If not for the Condit fight, this fight would have been a strong contender for Fight of the Night honors. Anyone who steps in the octagon with Court McGee better be ready for two things: to fight their ass off, and to do it at a frantic pace. Robert Whittaker was up for the challenge. These two threw everything at each other but the kitchen sink and showed us why they won their respective seasons. McGee really pushed the pace for all three rounds, even though it led to him taking the lion’s share of the punishment. The fight really could have went to either fighter’s favor, but in the end the judges gave the split decision to McGee.
Winner via split decision: Court McGee
In the lightweight division we saw two veterans put on one hell of a striking display as Donald Cerrone took on Rafael Dos Anjos. This fight really had it all. Cerrone got rocked a little early in the first round, but recovered quickly. There was a small scramble and some submission attempts by Cerrone. Dos Anjos was able to turn it around into his favor as he mounted a ground and pound assault landing some huge elbows. The second round was more of the same. Neither man would back down and just continued to go right at the other. Almost every exchange had both men landing big shots. The second round looked to be slightly in favor of Dos Anjos, as he was landed the cleaner shots and with more frequency. About halfway through the third round, Cerrone started to turn things around, and Dos Anjos started looking fatigued, but unfortunately it was too little too late for Cerrone. He was not able to finish, or put together enough of an offensive to gain the judges’ favor. They decided unanimously in favor of Dos Anjos.
Winner via unanimous decision: Rafael Dos Anjos
Ultimate Fighter season seventeen winner Kelvin Gastelum took on Brian Melancon in the welterweight division and it didn’t take long for us to remember exactly how he won the season. Gastelum came out aggressive and took Melancon down immediately, throwing knees and elbows on the way back up. Shortly thereafter, Gastelum took him down again, but this time when they reset on their feet, there was a whole different game plan. Gastelum unloaded some huge combos and finished with a huge uppercut the ricked Melancon. Gastelum capitalized immediately and jumped on his opponent and sunk in a rear naked choke.
Winner via submission (rear naked choke): Kelvin Gastelum
Remaining results:
Takeya Mizugaki def. Erik Perez via split decision
BradTavares def. Bubba McDaniel via unanimous decision
Dylan Andrews def. Papy Abedi via KO (punches)
Brandon Thatch def. Justin Edwards via TKO
Darren Elkins def. Hatsu Hioki via unanimous decision
Jason High def. James Head via submission (guillotine)
Zak Cummings def. Ben Alloway via submission (D’Arce choke)
Roger Bowling vs. Abel Trujillo ended with a no contest due to an illegal knee by Trujillo
Post Fight Honors:
Submission of the Night: Zak Cumings
KO of the Night: Brandon Thatch
Fight of the Night: Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampman
