At 9-0 with nine finishes, Jim Hettes came into UFC 141 with a lot of hype and a lot to prove against his stiffest test to date in Nam Phan. Hettes passed with flying colors, dominating Phan over three rounds en route to a one-sided unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-25, 30-25, 30-26.

As the scores suggest, the fight was all Hettes. “The Kid” came out fast, wasting little time in testing the boxing of Phan, closing the distance and getting an early trip takedown. Hettes peppered Phan with left hands, applying constant pressure from the top. Although Phan was able to get back to his feet, he was unable to stay there very long. Once on the ground, Hettes unleashed pinpoint accurate strikes stunning his opponent, exhibiting absolutely dominating top control. Phan would again get back to his feet, but Hettes used his Judo to put him right back on the mat again with a big throw, followed with more ground-and-pound. A late armbar attempt had Phan in trouble, but he was able to defend against the submission with solid defense from his back. Hettes stayed on the attack, letting go of the arm and moving to a dominant full mount position before unleashing a barrage of ground-and-pound to close out a lopsided first round.

The second round proved to be much more of the same. Hettes dominated the pace of the bout with constant pressure, and used his trip takedowns to earn dominant positions. After serving up more brutal ground-and-pound, a bloodied Phan looked helpless on the bottom as Hettes used constant movement to advance his position. Phan finally got to his feet and landed a couple of shots, but the clinch game of Hettes put him right back on the mat, and way behind on the scorecards.

Hettes looked a little winded from the relentless pace coming into the third round, but continued to push forward, earning yet another takedown. Phan worked back to his feet and finally started to connect with some multiple punch combinations, but Hettes would not be denied. Once again, Hettes was able to put Phan on his back and work from a dominant position. After transitioning to full mount, Hettes poured it on with a frantic finish, landing short elbows and big strikes from the top to end the contest.

The dominating win moves Hettes to 10-0 overall (2-0 UFC).

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