Chris Camozzi used a surprisingly solid striking game to take a unanimous decision win over Luiz Cane in the second bout at UFC 153. Cane’s standup was a bit stiff in his middleweight debut and he took a while to get loose, which Camozzi took advantage of. He had Cane backing off throughout the 15 minutes and his combinations were on point. Other than one time in the first when he was in danger on the ground, Camozzi looked very solid. All three judges had it 29-28 Camozzi.
Camozzi got started early while Cane looked to get his timing down. Camozzi caught a cane kick, but Cane used it to somehow transition to Camozzi’s back and throw him to the mat. He established back control with one hook and looked for the rear naked choke. Camozzi did a good job of defending, so Cane looked to soften him up with strikes. Camozzi was able to escape to his feet. Camozzi landed some nice combinations on the feet while Cane was throwing mostly single shots. Cane caught Camozzi coming in with a nice counter, but Camozzi was the more effective striker overall.
Camozzi started the second well again, chasing down Cane and mixing up his strikes. The first half of the round were probably Camozzi’s, but Cane had his moments with single punches and a solid leg kick. Camozzi continued to back Cane up, and landed some nice shots to the body. Camozzi wobbled Cane a bit with about a minute to go. Camozzi shot in for a takedown but got stuffed. Camozzi wobbled Cane again late.
Both men were throwing solid strikes early in the final round, but it was Camozzi coming forward. Cane’s striking was starting to look a little better after being a little stiff for the first two rounds. Camozzi stuffed a Cane takedown attempt with 90 seconds to go. Both men continued to land, but Cane probably landed the more damaging shots. Cane had another takedown attempt stuffed and ate a solid right from Camozzi late. Cane landed a huge right at the final horn.
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