As expected, Stephens edged Downes in the first on most scorecards with brutal uppercut, overhand combinations that wobbled Downes briefly during the round. Downes wasn't able to counter effectively, nor was he able to produce much offense in the clinch. Stephens strangely clinched consistently during the round, eying takedowns. He was hindered by Downes' exceptional takedown defense however.
Stephens took down Downes in the early moments of the second, slipping out of a guillotine choke during the shot and transitioning to side control eventually. From there, Stephens locked in a nasty kimura lock that Downes miraculously survived through. Once Stephens gave up on the hold, he landed a few huge elbows to Downes' dome. Downes incredibly escaped back to his feet with a little over a minute and a half left in the round. Stephens continued his onslaught on the feet until the end of the round.
More of the same from Stephens in the third, highlighted with a scoop and run across the cage takedown. Downes proved his heart by continuing to fight on, but Stephens was too much. Dominant performance by Jeremy Stephens.
Stephens entered this contest following a knockout win over Marcus Davis at UFC 125 in January. He had previously lost via split decision to Melvin Guillard at UFC 119 in September after edging out Sam Stout at UFC 113 in May of last year and defeating Justin Buchholz at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard in September of 2009 via TKO due to cut.
Downes lost his debut in the WEC against Chris Horodecki at WEC 49 in June of last year, but bounced back in an unanimous decision win over Zhang Tie Quan at WEC 53 in December. He took a fight outside of the UFC in May, submitting Tory Bogguess at an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/73885/the-ultimate-fighter-13-finale-pettis-vs-guida
