Limitless victory in Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Paris, France’s Francis (Limitless) Carmont had a hugely successful UFC debut Saturday, winning a unanimous decision over Chris Camozzi on the undercard of UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The new teammate of welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre who recently joined Montreal’s Tristar gym, showed off his strong kickboxing prowess, coming close to finishing his younger opponent with strikes on a couple of occasions.

Carmont (17-7) set the tone early with kicks and knees from the clinch and an early takedown en route to winning all three rounds, with one judge scoring it 30-26. It was his sixth straight win, and second in a row in Canada after he knocked out former UFC fighter Jason Day in Hamilton in June.

The 30-year-old kickboxer looked very comfortable throughout his first appearance in the Octagon and was particularly strong in the second round, thrilling the crowd with a huge lift and slam. Later he landed a right, left combo flush to the head that floored Camozzi. Carmont went in for the finish, but Camozzi (15-5) survived.

The 24-year-old American, who is 2-1 in the UFC but coming off a submission loss in February, regrouped and managed a standing choke attempt as the round ended. Still, judge Tony Weeks scored it 10-8 in Carmont’s favour.

Carmont came out fast in the third and continued to work lots of angles in a dynamic effort that displayed some of the wrestling and grappling skills he’s been able to add while working under famed Tristar instructor Firas Zahabi.

But Camozzi also had his moments, connecting with a flying knee after a run across the cage in the final frame. Carmont managed to get a quick mount after a late takedown but Camozzi finished the round with another submission attempt, this time a tense-looking kimura but with not enough time left to put Carmont in danger.

St-Pierre looked very comfortable as well in his first cornering duties in some time, shouting a number of instructions that were evidently well-followed by Carmont. GSP was originally supposed to be here in a different capacity, fighting in the main event against Carlos Condit before he was injured in training last week.

UFC 137 will be headlined by a welterweight clash between B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz.

Follow fight-by-fight results for MMA events with Twitter. James will do live updates during all UFC events as well as many other promotions, including Canadian ones.