Cheick Kongo battered Paul Buentello for two rounds on Sunday night at UFC on Versus 1 before landing a series of elbows on the ground that forced Buentello to tap out in the third.In a departure from his usual strategy, Kongo took Buentello down early and often, repeatedly pummeling Buentello against the fence. Buentello got back up after about a minute on the ground, but Kongo picked him up and slammed him right back down.
With less than two minutes remaining in the first round, Buentello suffered what looked like a finger injury, and the fight was briefly halted while the doctor checked it. Surprisingly, the doctor and referee Herb Dean allowed the fight to continue, and when it did, Kongo continued to dominate until the end of the first round.
The second round started fast, with a trade of punches followed by Kongo, once again, taking Buentello down against the fence and pounding on him. But the fight had to be paused, once again, when Kongo landed an illegal knee to Buentello's head while Buentello was on the ground. Dean took a point away from Kongo as a penalty, making it a 9-9 round.
In the third round, Kongo took Buentello yet again, landed elbows to Buentello's legs and body, and eventually made Buentello tap. It was a strange ending to a strange fight, but a very good performance by Kongo.
It was also a performance that snapped a two-fight losing streak for Kongo and improved his record to 15-6-1. Buentello falls to 27-12.
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