Matt Hamill marked his return to the UFC with a victory over Roger Hollett at UFC 152 tonight.
Hamill started out the aggressor in this fight, pressing forward with strikes, while Hollett looked to counter with the overhand right.
It seemed as if they were content to continue at this pace, but then mid-way through the round Hamill suddenly rushed in and easily took Hollett to the mat.
Hollett was turtled up and Hamill got to work feeding him a steady diet of hard left hands to the side of the head. Hollett could do little but cover up and weather the storm. That storm lasted several minutes but he managed to protect himself from the worst of the blows and was able to get to his feet in the final seconds of the round.
Hamill put a lot of energy into that first round and he was fighting at a slower pace in the second round. Hollett wasn’t eager to push the pace either though so if Hamill wanted a breather he was getting it.
Another takedown for Hamill midway through the round was significant, and he was also able to take him down again before the bell to ensure that another round was going in his favor.
The third round looked a little like the first as Hamill was able to take Hollett down and was able to land ground and pound to his turtled up opponent. The speed and rate of his punches was notably slower than the opening stanza however.
Hollet made it back upright briefly with a couple of minutes to go, but Hamill charged in for another takedown and secured it relatively easily.
He seemed to be just using the position to take a breather though and with a minute left they were stood back up. Hamill pressed forward and got Hollett up against the cage before grabbing Hollet’s legs and pulling them out from under him, and stayed on top until the end of the round.
Onto the judges scorecards then and it was no surprise to see Hamill being awarded a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 30-27 x2).
Overall it was a bit of a sloppy fight with both men tiring before the end. Not the return to the UFC Hamill would have been hoping for, but he still got the victory and it was nice to see him getting back to his wrestling roots.
