Rising middleweights Jared Hamman and Constantinos Philippou were matched up on the ION portion of the undercard.
The power-punching Hamman has scored a number of highlight reel knockouts, most recently defeating C.B. Dollaway. The former light heavyweight looked to make his way into contention with another win.
Philippou fell short in his UFC debut against Nick Catone, but quickly rebounded with an impressive win over veteran Jorge Rivera at UFC 133 in August. The East Coast-based fighter hoped to build on his last win with another strong performance.
Round One: Philippou the aggressor early, but Hamman starts pushing forward with some solid leg kicks. Hamman shoots for a takedown but Philippou stuffs it. Briefly against the cage, but not for long. Solid body kick lands for Hamman. He lands it again but Philippou counters with a huge punch that drops Hamman. Philippou follows Hamman to the gorund and grabs a choke. Hamman escapes and they’re back to their feet. Philippou drops him again. Philippou dropping bombs from the top, but somehow Hamman gets back up. Philippou drops him for a third time with two more huge punches. John McCarthy has seen enough and the fight is over.
“It was about time. This is who I am,” an ecstatic Philippou declared while speaking to Joe Rogan after the win. “The best day of my life,” the fighter stated.
Official Result: Constantinos Philippou def. Jared Hamman by KO (strikes). Round 1, 3:11
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Kevin Sampson is a Correspondent for Bleacher Report MMA.