Castillo, Diabate early winners UFC on Versus 3
During the UFC preliminary fights in Louisville on Thursday night, Cyrille Diabate and Danny Castillo walked away winners from the fights that were aired on Facebook.
Castillo wins UFC debut
Danny Castillo won his UFC debut, taking a unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 over Joe Stevenson.
Castillo outlasted a huge slam and a guillotine attempt in the first round to land some punishing blows near the end of the round. In the second, Castillo showed off some good striking and then reversed a big slam from Stevenson. He then threw an inadvertent knee while Stevenson's hand was on the ground. Since it was inadvertent, the referee merely warned Castillo instead of deducting a point.
Castillo managed to use the clinch to to inflict damage in the third round, and took Stevenson down halfway through the round. Stevenson tried again for the guillotine, but couldn't finish. Castillo maintained control, taking Stevenson down one last time before inflicting a bevy of blows in the last 10 seconds of the fight.
Diabate owns Cantwell in a decision
Cyrille Diabate rebounded from a loss to Alexander Gustaffson with a dominating decision over Steve Cantwell, with the judges scoring it 30-27, 30-25, 30-26.
Diabate started strong, throwing every kick and strike in his arsenal at Cantwell, who tried to counter with a takedown. Near the end of the first round, Diabate threw a powerful knee and followed it up with an uppercut that sent Cantwell to the ground. Diabate was unable to finish Cantwell off before the horn sounded, but the damage was done.
In the second round, Diabate, a former K-1 kickboxer, took Cantwell to the ground. He landed strikes there for a short tme before standing back up and throwing more strikes at will. An exhausted Cantwell tried for a takedown, but ended up with Diabate on his back. By the final round, Diabate could do what he wanted, and made the fight resemble a sparring practice. He threw jabs, knees and kicks at will. Cantwell didn't have any defense, but at the same time, Diabate couldn't finish off Cantwell.
Undercard results courtesy of MMA Junkie:
Shane Roller def. Thiago Tavares via KO (punches) - Round 2, 1:28
Takeya Mizugaki def. Reuben Duran via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Dongi Yang def. Rob Kimmons via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:47
Rousimar Palhares def. Dave Branch via submission (kneebar) - Round 2, 1:44
Igor Pokrajac def. Todd Brown via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 5:00
