Middleweights Steve Cantwell and Mike Massenzio opened the Facebook preliminary card for UFC 136 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.
In the first round it took a minute for the fighters to settle in, but when someone got comfortable it was Cantwell who found a home for his right hand in the face of southpaw Mike Massenzio. He added some kicks to the mix and comfortably won the first round.
UFC 136 Results: Mike Massenzio defeated Steve Cantwell by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27).
In the second, Stann fought for a switch as Massenzio shot for a take down and after some time sitting on his ass against the cage, was back on his feet quickly. When they stood back up, Massenzio ate a couple of kicks before landing with a pair of lefts. Cantwell answered by countering an uppercut with a sharp knee to the face. Massenzio began to catch Cantwell with the left routinely and smacked him hard with another uppercut. Massenzio kept inexplicably stopping what he was doing -- ie beating up Cantwell on the feet -- and shooting in for failed take downs. Cantwell landed some knees to the body but Massenzio broke his nose with another shot.
Massenzio opened the third with another lead uppercut that hurt Cantwell. But again he no sooner got some momentum going than he shot in for another fruitless take down. The pattern repeated again and again in the final round before he finally got Cantwell down at around the 3 minute mark. Nothing much happened on the ground before they returned to their feet where Massenzio continued to score with left hands and right uppercuts. As he got Cantwell hurt he again shot in for a pointless take down attempt. Again they separated and Massenzio just proceeded to beat the crap out of Cantwell. Cantwell, battered, bloody and obviously exhausted, ended the bout going for a knee bar but knowing he'd lost the fight.
After the fight Mike Massenzio said, "Aside from the birth of my daughter, this is the best night of my life. After the first round I knew I had to take control that Cantwell was going to be formidable. I want to celebrate with my team, watch some fights and relax now."
Steve Cantwell said, "He threw me off my game with all those left hands that keep coming at me. The first round felt like it was mine so I will have to wait to look at the video to see what happened."