UFC 103 Results: Junior dos Santos Stops Mirko CroCop in War of Attrition

CroCop looked prepared and so did dos Santos.

The first round offered a great deal of back and forth. The left leg of CroCop didn't play a major role early on, but the left straight landed very effectively for Filipovic. Dos Santos, by contrast, tried his right uppercut and a swarming approach to keep the former kickboxer backing up and off balance. While CroCop looked prepared and landed effectively, dos Santos appeared very sturdy in the face of CroCop's attacks. CroCop had the more patient attack and dos Santos offered almost no jab, but both fighters styles worked well for them early on. In terms of physical damage, CroCop ended the round with a mouse over the right eye while dos Santos sported small cuts near both of his eyes.

The second round saw a more durable dos Santos begin to press the action. CroCop's energy appeared to wilt as dos Santos continually pressured and clinched with the Crotation. The left straight of CroCop was all but gone and CroCop spent much of the round clinch breaking. An inadvertent groin kick from CroCop briefly stopped the action. After that, the round ended, but it appeared dos Santos was gaining the momentum.

As the third round began, both fighters appeared very physically damaged. But it turns out lead knees of dos Santos made the difference. Dos Santos both landed lead knees closing the distance and within the clinch that surprised CroCop and slowed him down dramatically. Eventually, though, it was a crushing right knee from dos Santos that devasted CroCop is almost the way CroCop himself stopped Bob Sapp.

And the heavyweight division gets even stronger. Lesnar, you've got plenty of contenders.

Referee Dan Miragliotta stops the fight at 2 minutes of the third round by verbal submission.