Venator FC 3 Results: Rousimar Palhares knocked out; Jason 'Mayhem' Miller submitted

The Venator FC 3 main event didn't go as many expected.

Rousimar Palhares didn't win by a first-round heel hook. Instead, he got knocked out in less than a minute by relatively unknown fighter, Emil Weber Meek on Saturday night in Milan, Italy. Right after the bell, Palhares rushed in for a single-leg takedown that often sets up his leg lock attacks. But this time, he wasn't able to catch a leg, but instead ate several hard elbows and punches to the side of the head. With a shocking and impressive performance, Meek defeated Palhares via technical knockout at 0:45 of round one.

In the co-main event of the night, Luke Barnatt fought Stefan Croitoru for the Venator middleweight title. It was complete domination from Barnatt's part. Barnatt excelled in the ground game and the standup battle, earning a second-round technical knockout over Croitoru, who stepped up as a late replacement for Jason Miller. With this performance, Barnatt is now 3-0 since his UFC release back in May 2015.

In a match up of two MMA veterans, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou took on Matt Hamill. There wasn't much of a fight here. Both fighters squared off, threw a few strikes without landing anything flush, and then Sokoudjou blasted the 39-year-old Hamill with an uppercut that knocked him out cold. The official stoppage came at 0:37 of round one.

Meanwhile, the controversial Miller, better known as "Mayhem," competed in his first professional fight since May 2012. Miller was originally scheduled to fight Barnatt for the middleweight title, but after missing weight by 24 pounds Friday, "Mayhem" was given a light heavyweight bout against Mattia Schiavolin. Miller brought his vintage walkout, as he danced his way to the cage with several women. During the first round of the fight, there was little action, but a late takedown from Miller was just enough to give him the round. In the second, Schiavolin came out to finish Miller, and he did. The Italian fighter landed a few solid shots on Miller and followed up with a rear-naked choke, finishing Miller at 3:10 of round two.

Additionally, former UFC fighter Cody McKenzie snapped a five-fight losing streak with his infamous choke: The McKenzietine. McKenzie faced some adversity early in the first round when his opponent, Valeriu Mircea, dropped him to the canvas with a brutal liver kick. After surviving the liver shot, McKenzie pulled guard on Mircea just to sweep him to achieve top position. There, McKenzie took Mircea's back and looked for a rear naked choke while landing solid ground and pound for the remaining of the round. The second round wasn't much different, as Mircea looked to knockout McKenzie, and McKenzie looked to take Mircea to the ground. During a scramble, McKenzie locked up a guillotine, forcing Mircea to tap out at 1:30 of round two.

Opening the main card, Che Mills proved to be a different fighter than the one that competed in the UFC three years ago. Mills, who's built a reputation of being a striker, took down his opponent, Terry Montgomery. The English fighter advanced positions, and attacked with a Kimura, threatening Montgomery. After the failed Kimura attempt, Mills advanced to mount where he landed an illegal elbow to the back of Montgomery's head. The referee stopped the fight, Montgomery said he couldn't continue, and the fight was declared a no contest. Despite the result, Mills showed improvement in the ground department, dominating Montgomery from start to finish.

Other main card performances include Marvin Vettori's submission win over Igor Araujo, Karl Amoussou's TKO win over Giovanni Melillo, and prospect Jack Hermansson's TKO victory of Ireneusz Cholewa.