By TXMMA Staff | Photos: UFC.com, Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 166 delivers another action-packed event in the city of Houston
HOUSTON, TX, October 21, 2013 – The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to downtown Houston, TX for the third time ever and first time in two years this past Saturday night with UFC 166 happening at the Toyota Center.
Billed as one of the biggest fight cards in company history due to the main event featuring Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title for the third time, UFC 166 did not disappoint – delivering what Dana White called “one of the best cards we’ve ever put on.”
Cain Velasquez batters Junior dos Santos to put an end to heavyweight title trilogy
The night’s main event at UFC 166 looked much like the second bout in the Velasquez-dos Santos saga.
“He beat me up,” said former champion Junior dos Santos following the conclusion of his bout with the former NCAA All-American wrestler, Cain Velasquez.
Cain Velasquez did in fact batter and bruise dos Santos in a grueling five round bout for the Brazilian, making this bout look much like their second one. Junior came into the fight in great shape but could not handle the relentless pressure administered by the champion and suffered the worse continued beating of his career on the way to a fifth round defeat by TKO that closes the book on this trilogy and cements Cain as the undisputed champion.
Daniel Cormier wins over “Big Country” Roy Nelson; Possible light heavyweight drop on tap
In the co-main event of the evening, another AKA product and former All-American wrestler in Daniel Cormier beat Roy Nelson in workmanlike fashion over three rounds. Like dos Santos with Velasquez, Nelson simply had no answer for the pressure put on by Cormier and offered nothing in return in this bout. With the unanimous decision win speculation now turns to whether Cormier will drop down to light heavyweight in a potential bid to displace champion Jon Jones as opposed to staying in the heavyweight division ruled by his teammate Velasquez.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez produces fight of the year candidate
Producing possibly the best fight of the night was another set of teammates in Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez. The result marked a unanimous decision win for Melendez but that does not underscore the gargantuan effort put on by Sanchez as he went berserk in continuing to make this one a war despite a deep gash around his eye in the third.
It was a true plan pleaser as both men chose to invest all of their fighting spirit in the three-round slugfest which also including exciting moments and submission attempts on the ground.
Definitely one of the best fights, ever.
Best of the Rest at UFC 166
The UFC 166 PPV card featured two additional bouts that ended in convincing fashion with both Gabriel Gonzaga and John Dodson scoring spectacular first round knockouts over Shawn Jordan and Darrell Montague respectively.
Meanwhile on the undercard Hector Lombard scored another impressive KO over Nate Marquardt while Adlan Amagov did the same over Texas representative TJ Waldburger.
Other highlights (or lowlights) included Tim Boetsch winning a close but controversial decision over CB Dollaway and former Houston resident KJ Noons scoring a unanimous decision over Australian George Sotiropoulos.
Check out the full results below to close the book on UFC 166.
UFC 166 Main Card Results (PPV)
Cain Velasquez over Junior dos Santos by TKO, RD5
Daniel Cormier over Roy Nelson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Gilbert Melendez over Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Gabriel Gonzaga over Shawn Jordan by KO at 1:33, RD1
John Dodson over Darrell Montague by KO at 4:13, RD1
UFC 166 Prelim Results (Fox Sports 1)
Tim Boetsch over CB Dolloway by split decision (30-26, 27-29, 30-26)
Hector Lombard over Nate Marquardt by KO at 1:48, RD1
Jessica Eye over Sarah Kaufman by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
KJ Noons over George Sotiropoulos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
UFC 166 Prelim Results (Facebook)
Adlan Amagov over TJ Waldburger by KO at 3:45, RD1
Tony Ferguson over Mike Rio by submission (d’arce choke) at 1:52, RD1
Andre Fili over Jeremy Larsen by TKO at 0:51, RD2
Kyoji Horiguchi over Dustin Pague by TKO at 3:51, RD2
