MMA - UFC - TUF LIVE

Tomorrow, March 3^rd, the UFC makes its way to Louisville, Kentucky for its first event in the state. UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann comes to you live from the KFC Yum! Center. The event will also be broadcast on Versus in the U.S. and Rogers Sportsnet One in Canada. Not only is this the first UFC event in Kentucky, it will also be the first event that is broadcast in 3D. In the months leading up to this card, numerous fighters were forced to withdraw and were replaced. A couple fights were even cancelled or postponed.

Let’s take a look at the finalized fight card and break it down.

 The first bout of the broadcast is a Bantamweight bout between Brian Bowles (8-1) and “The Angel of Death” Damacio Page (15-5). When Brian Bowles burst onto the WEC scene, he was finishing his opponents left and right. This earned him a title shot against Miguel Torres in which he won the WEC Bantamweight Championship by way of KO in the first round. Unfortunately, he was dominated by Dominick Cruz in his first title defense. Damacio Page was defeated by Bowles back in 2008 via guillotine choke. After their careers went down two different paths, they finally meet again, with Page looking for redemption. With both fighters coming off a loss, Bowles’ being one year ago, it’ll be interesting to see how much they’ve each improved since their last meeting.

The next match up features Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara (15-7-1) as he takes on UFC newcomer Chris “The All-American” Weidman (4-0). Sakara has been forced to pull out of his last few scheduled bouts for numerous reasons. Finally, he is back and ready to fight. Weidman steps in for an injured Rafael Natal who was a replacement himself when Maiquel Falcao pulled out due to an injury. Weidman is a former All-American wrestler out of Hofstra University and is coached by Matt Serra and Ray Longo. With a similar background in Boxing and BJJ, Sakara comes into this fight riding a three-fight win streak and two of those wins coming by way of (T)KO. While it may not be Saraka’s toughest fight, it will definitely be a step up in competition for Chris Weidman. With both men having similar strengths, Weidman’s wrestling could be what makes the difference in the fight.

The Co-Main Event of the evening is a Middleweight bout that has C.B. “The Doberman” Dollaway (11-2) facing off against “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz (9-2). Both men are former NCAA D-1 Wrestlers (Dollaway at Arizona State and Munoz at Oklahoma State) and both are coming off a win in their last fight. In Munoz’ last fight, he faced off against another great ASU wrestler in Aaron Simpson. Munoz showed that his wrestling was better and earned a Unanimous Decision. In C.B.’s last fight, he defeated submission specialist Joe Doerksen via guillotine choke. In what may be the toughest fight of their career, it may be the striking that will make the difference if their wrestling is as even as it seems on paper.

The Main Event of the evening is a Welterweight bout between Diego “The Dream” Sanchez (22-4) and Martin “Hitman” Kampmann (17-4). Formerly known as “The Nightmare” Diego Sanchez stated that he wanted to remove all negativity from his life and become a better person and felt that nightmares were viewed as a bad thing. Coming into this fight, he has a whole new attitude and outlook on life. Will his name change help him fight better; who really knows. Kampmann is coming into this fight after a loss to Jake Shields and needs to get back on the winning track if he wants to get back in the title picture.

Both men share a common opponent in Paulo Thiago, whom they both dominated en route to a Unanimous Decision victory. Diego’s key to victory is going to be his insane cardio and ability to work at a rapid pace for three rounds. Kampmann is going to need to use his striking abilities to slow Diego down and keep him at a distance.  Both men are also Brown Belts in BJJ and have a good ground game that could end the fight. The winner of this fight may put themselves a couple of steps closer to the Welterweight Championship.

In addition to the Versus/Sportsnet One broadcast, there will also be two fights shown on the UFC’s Facebook page. The first fight on Facebook will be a Light Heavyweight fight between Steve “The Cure” Cantwell (7-3) and Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate (16-7-1). The next fight being shown is a Lightweight matchup that features Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (31-12) as he takes on Danny “Last Call” Castillo (10-3) in his UFC debut. The action on Facebook begins at 8PM ET/5PM PT and the Versus/Sportsnet One broadcast immediately follows at 9PM ET/6PM PT.