DIEGO ‘NIGHTMARE’ SANCHEZ AND MARTIN ‘THE HITMAN’ KAMPMANN HEADLINE VERSUS’ THIRD LIVE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP (UFC) EVENT ON MARCH 3rd
NEW YORK, N.Y. – VERSUS will air the first of four UFC® events in 2011, on Thursday, March 3, with a stacked card featuring Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann in a welterweight battle along with a highly anticipated middleweight clash between CB “The Doberman” Dollaway and Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz. The fight will originate from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville and air live on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET.
As always, the network will super-serve MMA fans by offering extended coverage of the event with two live shows hosted by Craig Hummer, Molly Qerim and 2010 MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani, a 60-minute pre-fight show and 30-minute wrap-up show, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The pre show will include exclusive interviews with Diego Sanchez prior to his main-event battle with Kampmann as well as superstar Jon “Bones” Jones, who discusses his impeding title fight against Mauricio Rua on March 19 at UFC 128. VERSUS will also chat with fighters on the event’s card both before and after their matches.
Similar to the second UFC telecast on VERSUS last August, the network will once again run several of its commercial breaks between rounds in a split-screen format right next to live coverage from the locker rooms or as the fighters make their way to the Octagon®. The ads will appear in the upper left corner of the screen as the live coverage runs in a bigger box on the right side of the screen.
Season one winner of The Ultimate Fighter®, Sanchez (24-4) will face Kampmann (17-4) in the night’s main event. The bout is pivotal for both fighters to determine who will emerge as a top contender in the welterweight division. In the night’s co-main event, rising middleweight stars Dollaway (12-3) and Munoz (9-2) lock horns to see which fighter moves one step closer to a world title fight. Munoz, who has trained with Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz and has a record of 4-1 in UFC, will look for a fifth win over Dollaway.
The night’s undercard will feature a middleweight showdown between Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara (19-7, 1NC) and Chris Weidman (4-0), a New York native and former two-time All-American wrestler making his UFC debut. Finally, former champion Brian Bowles (8-1) returns to the cage after a year absence to square off against dynamite grappler Damacio “The Angel of Death” Page (12-5) in the night’s featured bantamweight bout.
