World Series of Fighting 3 saw six of its first seven fights go the distance, with the one finish by Justin Gaethje lasting into the third round.
That trend changed dramatically as both the main and co-main event lasted less than half a round as Steve Carl and Josh Burkman choked out their heavily hyped opponents earning themselves impressive victories in the process.
In the main event of the evening, Josh Burkman impressively knocked off another UFC import brought in to beat him, this time former title challenger and perennial top ten ranked Jon Fitch.
After knocking out Aaron Simpson early in the first round at WSOF 2, Burkman was able to rock Fitch on the feet early which enabled him to lock in a guillotine choke that would soon leave Fitch unconscious.
In fact, referee Steve Mazagatti didn’t stop the fight until Burkman got up and walked away from the unconscious Jon Fitch. It will be interesting to see where the two men go from here, as Fitch was a prize signing by WSOF and quickly lobbied for a rubber match (Fitch submitted Burkman seven years prior). Burkman, however, probably deserves a bigger fight after this impressive victory.
Steve Carl chokes out Tyson Steele in the first round
The co-main event was a welterweight bout as Steve Carl faced Tyson Steele. Steele employed a strange strategy of throwing almost exclusively kicks, perhaps trying to keep the aggressive, powerful Carl off balance.
The ridged front and side kicks didn’t do the job, as Carl pushed forward and landed a few hard punches, forcing Steele to abandon that strategy and shoot for a takedown. That was the beginning of the end however, as a short scramble and hammerfist to the side of the head led to Carl locking in a rear-naked choke which forced Steele to submit.
The complete WSOF 3 Results are below:
Main Card: (NBC Sports Network)
Josh Burkman def. Jon Fitch via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:41
Steve Carl def. Tyson Steele via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:32
Jacob Volkmann def. Lyle Beerbohm via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Justin Gaethje def. Brian Cobb via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 3, 2:19
Preliminary Card: (WSOF.com)
Jerrod Sanders def. Jeff Smith via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dan Lauzon def. John Gunderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Carson Beebe def. Joe Murphy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Krasimir Mladenov def. Kendrick Miree via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Branson Hansen def. Josh Montalvo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)