UFC 166 Live Blog

JOHN DODSON vs DARREL MONTAGUE
Flyweights underway. Dodson comes out quick as expected, landing hard early leg kicks to keep Montague at distance. Both guys begin to relax and start to throw, it's Dodson that lands the better blows and he swamps Darrel, getting him to the mat and landing clean shots, Montague is rocked but somehow recovers. Back to their feet they go, BOOM! A huge left cross from John Dodson turns Montagues legs to jelly, he falls flat on his face and the referee jumps in to save Darrell from more punishment.

John Dodson wins by KNOCKOUT

GABRIEL 'KA POW' GONZAGA vs SHAWN JORDAN
2 big boys, that prize themselves on finishing fights quickly, touch gloves and we're on. Neither guy moves in quick as they both look to get a feel for the tempo. Gonzaga lands the first blow with a right cross that definitely caught Shawn's attention. Jordan then moves forward with a jab cross combo, but on his way in Gonzaga throws quick right hook that flattens Jordan. Gonzaga jumps on him landing two hammer fists before the ref can get in to stop the fight. Huge power from Gabriel Gonzaga lands him the 'W'

Gabriel 'KaPow' Gonzaga wins by KNOCKOUT

GILBERT MELENDEZ vs DIEGO SANCHEZ
Melendez begins with a leg kick, he throws another and Diego catches it and takes him down, he switches to back mount and goes for the rear naked, Gilbert is able to fight him off however and it's back to the feet. Huge shots landed from both guys, they are not holding back at all. Diego is cut early from a right cross from Melendez but continues to push forward. Sanchez lands some good body kicks as we head to the second. Not before the last 10 seconds when both guys stand toe to toe and swing. Diego gets rocked but were going to the second. Awesome start
Sanchez begins round 2 standing back and calling Gilbert towards him, Melendez obliges and pushes forward. Both guys now seem to relax for a period. Diego moves in with a sweet right, left, knee and Gilbert follows up with a hard right hook. These guys are standing and banging! Sanchez is continuously looking to get in and out quickly, while Melendez is looking to pick him off with the left jab, right cross combo. Still they throw wild kicks and punches. End of the second and Melendez should be up 2 rounds to nil.
Early in the 3rd Melendez pushes forward and Diego catches him on the way in. Gilberts fine though. That's it, Diego says let's go and they do! For a good 30 seconds they stand and exchange, both landed big shots but kept going. Huge uppercut! Diego send Gilbert crashing, he goes in for the kill, somehow Melendez recovered. Down to the last 10 seconds and yep you guessed it, they stood and threw, both guys were hurt but kept going. What a war and a major contender for fight of the year. Amazing stuff from both guys

Gilbert Melendez wins by UNANIMOUS DECISION (30-27,29-28,29-28)

DANIEL CORMIER vs ROY 'BIG COUNTRY' NELSON
We begin with both guys very hesitant to push forward, it isn't long though before Cormier gets the takedown and looks to control Roy. Nelson does well to get back to his feet, but Daniel holds him in the clinch. Roy looks to break away but Cormier holds him in again. DC lands a knee that goes beneath the belt line, Roy is given time to recover and were back to standing. Cormier started to land better blows on the feet, but in typical Nelson style he kept pushing forward looking for that 'home run' punch. Cormier's round.
Clean jabs from Daniel start us off in the second. Nelson throws a jab of his own, but Cormier is definitely having the better of the exchanges. Cormier pushes for the takedown again and were back to a slow paced fight, with Daniel just holding onto Roy in the clinch. Nelson escapes and were standing in the center of the octagon again. Cormier continues to easily have the better of the exchanges, landing 4 punches to Roy's 1. End of round 2 and DC looks to have this wrapped up.
Cormier starts us off with a front kick and 2 leg kicks in the 3rd, but the pace has definitely slowed now. Huge front kick to the face of Nelson, from Daniel, but Roy doesn't seem fazed at all. Body kicks and left jabs are the theme for Cormier now and he's got Roy well in control. Roy tries to bait Daniel by dropping his hands and calling him in, Nelson tries to catch Cormier off guard with a massive attempted uppercut, it misses and the round peters out to a close. Bit of a disappointment in this one, with not a whole heap of action.

Daniel Cormier wins by UNANIMOUS DECISION (30-27 all round)

CAIN VELASQUEZ vs JUNIOR 'CIGANO' DOS SANTOS
The crowd is pumping, both guys are so intense coming into this one, to the point were Junior walks all the way up to Cain as his name is announced. Here we go! Ohhhh, huge shots landed straight away by Dos Santos, it looks to have rocked Cain, but he recovers well and pushes Junior into the clinch. Dos Santos escapes briefly but Cain finds his way back to the clinch and gets the takedown, he takes back mount briefly on Junior, but he's quickly back to his feet and yet again Velasquez presses JDS into the fence and clinches. The fight stays there until the end of the round. Cain's round
Round 2 and Cain is landing the better of the blows, Junior is able to land the odd jab, but Cain is well in control. Back to the clinch we go, Velasquez is landing good body kicks from the position. Dos Santos escapes a couple of times from there but Cain is relentless in his attack, he repeatedly puts Junior against the fence and controls him. Cain is well in control.
2 Rounds to nil
The same again from Velasquez early in Round 3, he lands a good overhand right and presses JDS against the cage. Cain is exhausting him from this position, Dos Santos lands a good short elbow, but not a lot else. Bang, Cain finally opens up and sits Junior on his backside he keeps landing, but miraculously Dos Santos gets back to his feet and we continue. Again! Velasquez with huge shots. Junior is almost out on his feet as we end the round. It was an overhand right that rocked JDS to begin with, he's in big trouble now. Cain has all the momentum
Junior goes for the first strike, but Cain is the first to connect with a big right. More combos from Velasquez, but still JDS stands and refuses to go down. Cain holds him in the clinch and continues to wear him down, Junior gets a little break and tries to land a big right, Velasquez easily dodges it. Cain backs off and on the way back in Junior lands a left jab, right uppercut combo that doesn't slow down Cain at all. A short elbow from Velasquez opened up a big cut on Junior and the doctor is called to have a look. We continue with the all clear. Junior lands better blows as the round closes, but again it's all Cain. 4 rounds to zip
Dos Santos runs at Cain and throws a right upper cut, he's much more active now, Cain quickly puts an end to that though, by getting the double leg takedown. Junior works his way back to his feet, but it's yet again Cain in control in the clinch. Junior still keeps throwing, a short elbow, a left hook, Velasquez still well in control. Junior tries to go for a choke and in doing so is pulled to the ground and falls on his head, he turtles up and Herb Dean runs in to stop the fight. In the end it was Junior that finished the fight for himself, but Cain Velasquez made a mess of Junior Dos Santos again, completely dominant from start to finish.

Cain Velasquez wins by TKO