Stephen Thompson entered the octagon with a lot of expectations on his shoulders due to his vaunted karate and kickboxing skills. He didn't disappoint, landing a brutal head kick on opponent Dan Stittgen and winning via knockout at 4:13 of round one.
The first round started off somewhat cautiously, with Stittgen trying to figure out Thompson's unique stance and dealing with Thompson's arsenal of kicks. Stittgen tried to work leg kicks for a while, but ended up eating kicks from Thompson instead. And then out of nowhere, Thompson nailed Stittgen with a head kick that put him out cold. Thompson had landed a punch before that, and the kick came from such an angle that Stittgen didn't even see it coming. Very impressive.
Both men were making their UFC debuts in this welterweight bout. Thompson entered the bout undefeated with a 5-0 MMA record and a 57-0 kickboxing record. He specializes in karate. Stittgen entered the bout with a 7-1 record, and had finished six of the seven wins inside the distance.
SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit