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Stephen Thompson takes out former UFC champ with first-round TKO

By Dave Doyle, The Sports Xchange

Stephen Thompson of tiny Simpsonville, S.C., took a big step up in competition on Saturday night, meeting former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in the main event of UFC Fight Night 82 in Las Vegas.

Turns out the small-town boy wasn't blinded by the bright Vegas lights. The kick-boxing specialist used all the tools in his arsenal for a star-turning performance that resulted in a TKO of the former champ at 3:31 of the opening round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

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Thompson successfully defended an early takedown attempt by Hendricks (17-4), a former NCAA wrestling champ at Oklahoma State. From there, Thompson took control with a dazzling array of kicks. A body kick followed by a huge left hand to the jaw kicked off the finishing flurry for Thompson (12-1) in his sixth straight victory.

"I knew he'd get me to the cage, try to set me up for the takedown," Thompson said. "I tried to be awkward, throw a lot of kicks, and see what happens. He kept on coming, I knew he'd keep moving forward until he ran into something."

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The co-feature heavyweight fight between Roy Nelson (21-12) of Las Vegas and Jared Rosholt (19-7) of Dallas will not go down as a great bouts.

Rosholt seemed unwilling to engage for most of the bout. Nelson, for his part, initiated just enough action to get the decision. The judges' scores in the forgettable affair were two 30-27s and a 29-28 in Nelson's favor.

"I changed his whole game and he ran the whole time, so there's nothing I can do about it," said Nelson, who snapped a three-fight losing streak. "I'm like a fine wine, I just get better and better."

In a light heavyweight bout, Ovince Saint Preux (19-7) of Knoxville shook off an early right ankle injury and outlasted former Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante (12-7, 1 NC) of Rio de Janeiro.

Cavalcante threw a flurry of low kicks early, one of which nailed Saint Preux's ankle. But the latter pushed through, changed the fight's flow with a big right hand late in the first round and cruised to victory.

The judges' scores were two 30-27s and a 29-28 as Saint Preux won for the third time in his past four fights and Cavalcante dropped his third in a row.

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"I think in the first round he threw a right leg kick and I rolled my ankle," Saint Preux said. "It's still feeling sore, but I just bit down on my mouth piece and pushed through it."

Joseph Benavidez (24-4) of Sacramento, Calif., continued a remarkable run with a flyweight victory over Zack Makovsky (19-7) of Philadelphia. He outboxed and outpaced Makovsky for a unanimous decision, getting a 30-27 score and two 29-28s from the judges.

That was not just Benavidez's fifth consecutive win, but he's now 24-0 when not matched up against current flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson and current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, against whom he's a combined 0-4.

After the bout, Benavidez lobbied for a third crack at Johnson's title.

"I know I have to do a lot to earn a shot since DJ has beaten me twice, but it's inevitable that I get there," he said.

Hometown favorite Mike Pyle (27-11-1) thrilled the Las Vegas crowd with a comeback win over Sean Spencer (12-5) in a welterweight bout.

The 40-year-old Pyle needed to tap all his veteran guile to rally from a slow start, but it paid off with a third-round TKO. Pyle unleashed an assault of elbows and knees before the referee called the bout at 4:25 of the final round.

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"I want to keep performing like that," said Pyle, who shook off a two-fight losing streak. "I'm 40, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hang with these 20-year-olds."

In a preliminary bout, prospect welterweight Mickey Gall (2-0) of Brunswick, N.J., submitted Mike Jackson (0-1) of Houston in just 45 seconds.

Gall, a UFC signee through the company's new "Lookin' for a Fight" reality series, earned the right to face former pro wrestling star Phil Brooks, better known by former stage name "CM Punk," in the latter's MMA debut at a date to be determined.

"It feels amazing to be here in this moment," Gall said. "I've been getting a lot more love than hate with it being my debut in the UFC. I know I'm ready for CM Punk."

Saturday's card was originally scheduled for pay-per-view and titled UFC 196. But the planned heavyweight title main event betweeen champion Fabricio Werdum and former champ Cain Velasquez fell through because of injuries to both competitors.

When a suitable PPV replacement couldn't be found, the bout was shifted to FOX Sports 1, retitled UFC Fight Night 82 and Hendricks-Thompson, originally slated as the co-feature, was made the main event.

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