CHICAGO — Hardcore fans anticipated someone was going to take home a limb as a trophy from the UFC on FOX 16 welterweight showdown Kenny Robertson and Ben Saunders. Both guys, after all, are known for their ability to pull rare submissions out of nowhere.
Instead, fans were treated to a slam-bang slobberknocker. In a bout in which you never knew what, exactly, one fight was going to throw, nor how the other would counter.
In the end, the judges felt Saunders did just a bit more to win, as he took two out of three 29-28 scores for a split decision.
The tone was set from the outset, as Saunders brutalized Robertson with body kicks and Robertson responded. The duo traded elbows, kicks, combos of punches, from range and in close, with Robertson mainly getting the best of things, but neither fighter backing down. Robertson dropped Saunders late with a right to the jaw, but couldn’t capitalize.
The standup chess match continued in round two, As Saunders landed more body kicks and Robertson responded by closing the distance and landing punches and elbows. The pace noticeably slowed following a timeout for an accidentally Saunders low kick on Robertson, but the pace picked up again late as the two once again traded blows.
In the third, finally, we saw more of the ground work expected from the bout. Robertson scored a trip just over a minute into the round, worked Saunders into a triangle, and held it for the duration of the round. He bloodied Saunders with elbows, but Saunders managed to hang on and get the decision.
Saunders (19-6-2) has won three in a row; Robertson (15-4) had a three-fight win streak snapped.