Cain Velasquez produced one of the most awe-inspiring victories of the year to defeat Cheick Kongo in the UFC 99 co-main event.
Velasquez manhandled Kongo from start to finish, using his relentless All American skills to dish out the beating of Kongo’s life.
That is no exaggeration, Kongo was left bloodied, battered, and he would have been out of it had he not been saved by the final horn.
If there is a positive for French kickboxer Kongo, it must be that he rocked Velasquez in all three rounds, but the AKA man’s response was awesome – dropping levels to take his opponent down and dominate – completely.
Rumour has it Kongo’s knee wasn’t in the best shape going into the fight. He wanted a quick finish and almost got it with a big right at the start of stanzas one and two, but as soon as Velasquez closed the space – Kongo had no answers.
Velasquez’s slam takedowns and transitions to mount were exceptional, he pounded away on Kongo for fully 15 minutes in what is easily the toughest experience of the Frenchman’s career.
Kongo’s friend was the bell, each time giving him a chance in the stand-up, where Velasquez still has work to do, but the final bell was the most significant as it saved Kongo from tapping out to strikes – simultaneously signalling Velasquez as the main contender to the heavyweight crown.
Mirko Cro Cop made a successful, although hugely controversial, return to The UFC with a first round TKO of Mostapha Al Turk.
Cro Cop had the Briton rocked midway through round one, dropping him with a big left, but Al Turk clung on to get back to his feet.
From there came the controversy, Cro Cop catching Al Turk in the eye with a stray finger, the Briton turned his back in pain but the ref waved the fight on – allowing Cro Cop to finish the job against a defenceless opponent.
“It made no difference to the outcome,” said Cro Cop afterwards.
He may have been right, but now we’ll never know. Poor refereeing.
Earlier, Mike Swick sent a message to Dana White with an outstanding TKO victory over the highly-rated up-and-comer Ben Saunders.
Swick is desperate for a title fight, or even a big fight, after taking his UFC record to 9-1 with a TKO stoppage at 3.47 in round two.
At 6ft 3, Saunders is tipped for a big future at 170, but after he spent the majority of the opening stanza resisting Swick from bottom position, he tired badly in round two.
One big Muay Thai knee momentarily worried Swick, but a huge right from the former middleweight had Saunders in all sorts of trouble.
Two more, one to the temple, and Saunders was done.
“I want to keep moving up. This is my 10th fight, I’m 9-1, I wanna fight Matt Hughes, GSP and Thiago Alves,” roared Swick afterwards. “Give me the top guys man.”
In the night’s other main card bout, Spencer Fisher claimed a unanimous decision after a snoozefest with Cael Uno.