Uflacker gets split decision win over Davis at HFC 10

VALPARAISO | LC Davis didn't need to say a word after Saturday's main event. His feelings were crystal clear.

After hearing the judges' scores read following his fight against Christian Uflacker at Hoosier Fight Club 10 at the Porter County Expo Center, Davis quickly turned and walked out of the cage with his cornermen and into the back while the sold-out crowd cheered Uflacker's win.

Uflacker improved to 4-0 with a significant split decision victory against Davis, a 21-fight veteran of promotions like World Extreme Cagefighting and the International Fight League. Uflacker won with a bizarre set of scores — 29-28 (two rounds to one) on two judges' scorecards, but a 30-27 loss from the third judge.

Davis seemed less upset with the loss than he was with how Uflacker went about it. The Summit, Ill.-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt used a game plan heavy on takedowns, but once on top on the ground, Uflacker did little offensively with the position — no doubt leading to one judge seeing all three rounds in favor of Davis, believing even though he was on the bottom often in the first two rounds, he delivered more damage offensively while Uflacker held him down.

"Story of the night," Davis told The Times via Twitter. "(It stinks) to lose like that. The thing that (stinks) is it's damn near impossible to get up from that position."

The third round was clearly Davis', as he landed dozens of strikes looking to finish his Brazilian opponent, but Uflacker stayed upright and survived the round to win the fight.

"I proved I have a jaw," Uflacker said. "I took a lot of hits in the third round, but I stayed there and I banged with him. I got the takedowns (to win the fight). LC is a tough guy. He is a highly decorated MMA fighter; I knew it would be a big challenge for me."

Uflacker was fighting for the first time since November 2009, a win for Strikeforce in Hoffman Estates, Ill, but he said so-called "cage rust" didn't play a factor.

"No, to be honest with you," Uflacker said. "I live inside the gym. I've been training since I was 7 years old."

In the co-main event, Nick Wayne, of L.A. Boxing in Merrillville, was submitted by Larry Digiulio 3:59 into the first round. Digiulio's striking was on point throughout the round, and Wayne was tested by his strong jabs that seemed to always land first. Wayne worked a good counter-attack of kicks, but after Digiulio dropped him and pounced to land some quick ground-and-pound, he was able to sink in a guillotine choke as Wayne tried to get back to his feet.

In the flyweight division, Crown Point's Jake Rosenbaum picked up arguably the most impressive win of his young career with a technical submission of Dexter Wright when ref pulled him off during a guillotine. Wright tried to dispute the stoppage, saying he wasn't out, but it may have only been a matter of time.

"I had him," Rosenbaum said. "I had no clue (if he was out or not), but if the ref pulls me off, I stop."