Matt Hamill takes UFC 121 decision from old coach Tito Ortiz

Matt Hamill pulled out a big win with a unanimous decision over former UFC champ Tito Ortiz. Hamill won 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 on the judges' cards at UFC 121 in Anaheim on Saturday.

In the first round, Hamill was able to take Ortiz down briefly, but could not do anything on the ground. The stand-up part of the round was filled with high leg kicks from both fighters and Ortiz moving forward throughout the round. Though the stand-up battle was close, Ortiz suffered more damage, sustaining a large cut on the side of his head and a mouse underneath his eye.

Hamill was able to inflict more damage in the second round. After getting a takedown, Hamill punished Ortiz with elbows from the top. Ortiz tried to answer with a submission attempts, but Hamill just took advantage of him and threw more short elbows.

After slow stand-up in the third and final round, Hamill tried to return to the takedown, but Ortiz stuffed it the first time, but easily took Ortiz to the ground on the second attempt. Hamill used side control to wear down Ortiz and land big hammer fists on Ortiz's hard-to-miss head.

Hamill was emotional after the fight, thanking his old coach and saying that he was honored to even fight Ortiz. Ortiz was Hamill's coach on "The Ultimate Fighter," and Hamill used Ortiz's style to beat his old mentor. The ground and pound strategy worked well for Hamill, who has now won five fights in a row.

Ortiz's next steps are not clear, as he has not won a fight since he beat Ken Shamrock in 2006. The one-time dominant champ is on a bad losing streak, and missed his chance to right the ship with this bout.

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Jake Shields grapples his way to a split decision at UFC 121

Jake Shields debut in the UFC was not flashy, but it got the job done as he won the split decision over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121. The judges saw the fight 28-29, 30-27, 29-28 for Shields in Anaheim on Saturday.

As expected, Shields took Kampmann down quickly to start the fight, and worked diligently there until the final minute of the round. Shields used leg kicks to keep Kampmann from closing the distance, and tried for another takedown as the round ended.

Shields continued to show his grappling game in the second round, controlling Kampmann on the ground. Kampmann was able to inflict some damage, twice hitting Shields in the face with knees while the two were clinched up. But when on the ground, Shields ruled the round, passing Kampmann's guard with ease. Shields slowed his pace in this round.

A gassed Shields had trouble getting Kampmann to the ground in the final round. When it finally happened, Shields continued to outgrapple Kampmann, but the pace of the fight was slow. Kampmann never really was able to take control of the fight away from Shields, and didn't unload in stand-up as he is able to do.

Though Shields, the Strikeforce middleweight champ who vacated his belt to sign with the UFC, had fought at welterweight in the past, his last fights for Strikeforce were at middleweight with last welterweight bout was in 2008 against Paul Daley. The cut down to welterweight appeared to be a bad one, because he had no problem fighting for five rounds in his April title defense with Dan Henderson.

Shields was supposed to be guaranteed a title shot with a win over Kampmann, but this bout raises two questions. One, was the win good enough to earn the title shot, and two, can Shields fight at 170 lbs.?

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