Last night's Fox Sports 1 event was a successful event that included lots of entertaining fights. There was knockouts, submissions and close decisions all packed into one amazing event. Carlos Condit was able to rise up last night and put on an amazing performance that earned he and Kampmann Fight of the Night honors. Carlos Condit proved that his climb to the top was no fluke. Condit was coming off of a two fight losing streak against top competition including a fight with the UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre and St. Pierre's UFC 167 opponent, Johnny Hendricks. I think that Condit is now 1 or 2 wins away from a title shot. Condit survived the early takedowns of Kampmann in the first round to go on and win rounds 2 and 3 and finish Kampmann in the fourth by TKO due to strikes.
Rafael Dos Anjos also made a statement in his fight with Donald Cerrone. Dos Anjos was able to keep the pressure on Cerrone in their bout in which he earned a decision victory and moves up the ranks in the UFC Lightweight Division. Cerrone had no answer for the striking attack that dos Anjos used to keep Cerrone from getting comfortable. Cerrone wasn't able to find his rhythm until the third round in which he was finally able to open up with an effective strike game which featured his devastating leg kicks that made dos Anjos lose his footing early in the round. Though Cerrone was able to put off a great third round, it just proved to be too late in the fight to pull off a win. Dos Anjos made a real name for himself in the Lightweight division with his win over Donald Cerrone. This was dos Anjos fifth straight victory in the UFC.
Recent Ultimate Fighter winner Kelvin Gastelum came into last night's event with a win over hyped up opponent Uriah Hall into his welterweight debut over Brian Melancon. Gastelum came into the fight looking to be in amazing shape and looked calm and confident as he was going into an important fight in his post-TUF UFC career. Gastelum was able to out-strike the powerful striker Melancon. Melancon was rocked and dropped by a series of punches thrown by Gastelum. Instead of continuing with strikes on the ground, Gastelum quickly took Melancon's back and secured a rear naked choke to earn the submission victory in the first round, winning his welterweight debut.
Another Ultimate Fighter winner was able to pull off a victory in their fight last night and that man was the talented Court McGee. Court McGee was able to outstrike and overpressure Brian Whittaker last night handing Whittaker his first loss in the UFC. The win came via split decision in which the judges scored the bout 30-27,27-30, 29-28 for Court McGee.
Takeya Mizugaki also put on a show for the fans with Erik Perez as the put on a complete mixed-martial-arts fight that had a perfect balance of striking and grappling that was delightful to watch and possibly my favorite fight from last night. The fight was decided via split decision but I felt it was clear enough that Mizugaki had earned a unanimous decision but the judges thought otherwise. This was Takeya's third straight victory in the UFC.
I would rate this event 8/10 as it was an amazing event that completely delivered while other UFC events have disappointed.
