Ohio fighter in title picture with UFC 121 win

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By Dann Stupp, Contributing Writer 12:27 AM Monday, October 25, 2010

Cain Velasquez’s upset of UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar is the big story coming out of this past weekend’s UFC 121 event. However, area native Matt Hamill scored arguably the biggest win of his career on the card, and according to UFC president Dana White, will get a legitimate contender in his next fight.

Hamill, a Loveland native who became a three-time Division III national wrestling champion at the Rochester Institute of Technology, scored a unanimous-decision victory over former champ Tito Ortiz at the mixed-martial-arts event, which took place Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Hamill, the only deaf fighter under contact with the UFC, improved to 10-2 and now owns a five-fight win streak.

“I think we’ve got to get Matt a fight in the top 10 in the 205-pound division, which is obviously the meanest and nastiest division, as always,” White said after the night’s pay-per-view broadcast. “I’m sure his next fight will be a top-10 opponent.”

Hamill found his way into the UFC via the third season of the UFC’s reality-competition series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” in 2006. Ortiz actually served as his coach in the team vs. team format. But the teacher had few answers for his pupil as Hamill, who started slow, eventually proved quicker to the punch, more adept at takedowns, and overall more effective as the fight entered its decisive third round.

“I thought Tito won the first round, but I quickly learned from my mistakes,” Hamill said. “In the second and third rounds ... I just put the pressure on him.”

In addition to Hamill’s victory and crowning Velasquez (9-0) as the new heavyweight champ, UFC newcomer and former champ Jake Shields (26-4-1) earned an upcoming title shot with a split-decision win over welterweight Martin Kampmann (17-4). Additionally, welterweight Diego Sanchez (22-4) earned a decision win over Paulo Thiago (13-3), and heavyweight Brendan Schaub (7-1) did the same with Gabriel Gonzaga (11-6).

BOWLING FALTERS: Cincinnati native and welterweight prospect Roger Bowling (8-1) suffered his first career loss this past weekend in the main event of the Showtime-televised Strikeforce Challengers 11 event.

Bowling, who’s known for lightning-quick hands and explosive knockout power, rematched veteran Bobby Voelker (23-8) on Oct. 22 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.

Bowling got the better of the standup fight in the first round, but Voelker wobbled him in the second and earned the TKO stoppage after a fight-ending barrage of ground and pound.

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, voted best media outlet in the 2008 and 2009 World MMA Awards. For the latest mixed-martial-arts news, go to MMAjunkie.com.

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