Stephen Thompson defeated Johny Hendricks by TKO Here's how Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com described the welterweight match: "A former NCAA champion wrestler, Hendricks tried to close distance on the rangy kickboxer but repeatedly walked into counter punches. He failed to secure a single takedown and landed 11 total strikes compared to Thompson's 25, according to Fightmetric.
"The finish came after Hendricks came up well short on a straight left hand," Okamoto continued. "Thompson stepped slightly out of range and came back with a big counterpunch. After Hendricks retreated to the fence, Thompson threw a spinning kick that left him wobbled and referee John McCarthy stepped in shortly after."
"Stephen Thompson was just a better man tonight," Hendricks said at the post-fight press conference. "What can I say? He performed. I hesitated. I don't hesitate usually. A lot of it goes into preparation. I switched camps and all these other things. But no excuses. He was just a better man."
The 32-year-old Hendricks, a two-time NCAA champ and three-time Big 12 titlewinner, is now 17-4 in his mixed martial arts career, and 12-4 in UFC competition ... though he is now 2-3 in his last five bouts. Thompson is now 12-1 overall, and 7-1 in UFC.
In its recap of the Roy Nelson-Jared Rosholt battle of the big men, Sherdog.com wrote, "Neither man offered much in the way of meaningful offense, their three-round encounter bringing out the boo birds."
"(Roy) Nelson outworked Jared Rosholt to capture a unanimous decision and snap a three-fight losing streak on Saturday night," according to MMAFighting.com. "However the bout was a sluggish affair with sparse action between the two heavyweights. And afterward, Nelson couldn't help but vent his frustration toward his opponent.
"I worked so hard on this camp. I wanted to, just, reignite the fans," Nelson said Saturday in a post-fight interview with the UFC. "I know I try to give the fans exactly what they (want). An explosion, a fun fight to watch. It's just, I didn't think he was going to run the whole time. I mean, Jared is a great athlete, but he's not a fighter. And tonight I think I showed that to the UFC world, that he's a great athlete, but man, when you've got a fight, you have to fight."
Nelson is now 21-12 in his MMA career, and 8-8 in UFC. Jared Rosholt, a three-time NCAA All-American heavyweight at Oklahoma State, falls to 14-3 overall, and 6-2 in UFC competition.
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