UK Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) continues to gather momentum and the level of each show improves every time. Ultimate Combat 3 attracted fighters from Denmark, Spain and the USA, as well as the UK's premier fighters, ready to follow in the footsteps of our UK UFC veterans in front of the near sell-out crowd of almost 900 dedicated MMA fans.

Out of a scheduled twenty fights, seventeen high-octane, action packed fights exploded onto a very vocal and hyper crowd, including the BAMMA British Title Fight that saw Paul Jenkins face Shain Tovell in one of the most anticipated fights of the year.

SHOOT Union's Alejandro Iglesias was once more on UK soil with a band of warriors in the Superfights, as were Denmark's very own bad boy Lars Besand and Eddie Christensen. The US was represented in the shape of Machado representative Tony Zamora, and Fight Factory's Pierre Guillet also flew the star spangled banner, facing Paul Johnson in a thrilling match.

A mixture of three semi-pro and fourteen pro fights, the action kicked off with Cornwall's Jon Williams against Andrew Liu and this match set the precedent for the rest of the evening. Liu clearly wanted to grapple and Williams wanted to strike - a classic battle of styles, and after a number of submission attempts from Liu, Williams sent his opponent to the canvas with a heavy-duty uppercut with less than a minute left in the first round.

In a semi pro match, the teenage sensation Ross Pettifer made short work of his opponent Shaun Parkin. Opening up with his usual front kick attack, Pettifer picked up his opponent like a bale of hay and slammed him into the canvas, takes the rear mount and gets the tap by way of neck crank in fifty seconds. At seventeen years old and fighting like this, this is one UK fighter destined for the Octagon.

Rough House Gym fighter Paul Sutherland, finally shook off the shackles of defeat, after losing twice in previous matches at this event, by giving Chris Smith a lesson in ground and pound. Sutherland wanted to finish the fight in the first round, but Smith managed to fend him off with good clinch work. Keeping the pace up in the second round Sutherland lands a heavy combination of punches and knees, sending Smith to the floor, where he turtles, gives his back up and allows Sutherland to rain down heavy leather to the back of the head and gets the tap out. An impressive performance from Sutherland, who has lost on the tiniest of margins in the past, and one rightly deserved.

Another UC regular, Alex Owen, thrilled the crowd with another impressive performance, despatching Luke Cole in the first round via arm bar. One can now expect to see Owen in the professional league after such an easy victory.

Hull's Mark Chen faced Rob Hannis in a two round thriller that had both fighters using their strikes and guard game to good effect. Hannis repeatedly attacked with the guillotine but could not get the tap out and, towards the end of the second round Chen managed to pass guard and land some shots, which lacked their usual sting through fatigue, but was enough for Chen to get the majority decision.

Fighting semi-pro, Mark Collett had his hands full with London Shootfighters' Suley Mahmoud; both fighters traded blows in the opening seconds of the fight, but it was Suley who got the first takedown and took side mount, landing shots to the body until the referee intervened. Back on their feet, Mahmoud shot in for a double leg and slammed Collett hard into the canvas, took the side control once more, securing the kimura, only to be stopped again due to being too near the ropes. After another restart, Mahmoud takes Collett down once more and hammers away at his opponent until the end of the round, taking the fight on a majority decision. Mahmoud is also another sure fire contender for pro status in his next match, a product of one of the UK's best MMA academies.

Possessing a lethal striking game, England's Tim Ryder took on SHOOT Espana's David Sanchez from Spain and the action was thick and fast all the way. Ryder was the aggressor from the word go and Sanchez had his hands full containing his opponent, but manages to take Ryder down when he unleashes a punching combination. Tim pulls guard and the action more or less stayed in this position until the end of the round. Ryder starts the second round as same of the first and Sanchez again takes his man to the ground, where Ryder uses some clean sprawl and brawl tactics, landing some hard shots to the side of the head; after a failed guillotine attempt from the Spaniard, both fighters get back on their feet and Sanchez takes a lovely single leg on Ryder, but is unable to maintain the pressure, as Ryder gets his second wind and starts unleashing heavy leather to the end of the round, which was enough to take the majority decision.

Danish fighter Eddie Christensen proved too much for Sandy Geddes to handle in their match. After trading heavy duty shots, the Danish fighter picks Geddes up for a big slam to take side control, switches to mount and attempts an arm bar submission, but ends up in the ropes and the action halts as they are re-stood. In the second round Geddes gets taken down with a smooth double leg, taking side control and then the mount once more and opens up on Geddes, leaving the referee no option than to stop the fight.

Sol Gilbert wasted no time in his professional debut fight against Guy Stainthorp, landing some hard shots, cutting his opponent deeply and thus ending the fight at twenty four seconds; a rematch most certainly will be on the cards.

Dave Mc Laughlin gave his opponent a lesson in Sambo throws in one of the most thrilling fights of the night against John Waite and Dave's persistence paid off in the second round, taking the fight with a text book kimura lock forty seconds into the second round.

Fight Factory member, Pierre Guillet from the USA entered the ring in fantastic condition for his match up against Paul Johnson of England. After a quick double leg takedown from Guillet, the US fighter ended the match with an arm bar, a very impressive performance indeed, and a UK debut for Guillet.

Possibly the best fight of the night was between John Jones and Lars Besand from Denmark in a three round thriller that had everything a fight fan could ask for: toe to toe action, takedowns, forearm shots, you name it this fight had it in spades. Besand continually looked for the submissions but Jones was having none of it and it was cat and mouse for the entire fight. But in the end the dogged determination of the Danish warrior did enough to get the majority decision. Full credit to Jones for seeing out the fight in true gladiator style and I am sure we'll be seeing more from these two tough fighters in the future.

SHOOT Espana's Daniel Tabera from Spain gave away over twenty kilos in this David v Goliath match, facing USA fighter Tony Zamora. In the first round Zamora used his weight to his advantage and bullied the lighter Spaniard, picking him up and slamming him into the canvas. Tabera manages to land some heavy knees to Zamora, knocking him back and rushes in to take the mount, but is reversed by Zamora and is denied any advantage as the bell rings. In the second round, Zamora rushes Tabera, who immediately sprawls and Zamora screams out in pain, due to a knee injury and is unable to continue, giving Tabera the match.

In the final fight of the event, the Middleweight title and belt was fought for by two of the UK's best fighters, Shain Tovell and Paul Jenkins, who have fought each other on two previous occasions, with Jenkins winning both previous encounters he was the crowd favourite.

Many fans had their money on Jenkins, who by no means thought this to be an easy fight, but fights never end up as one predicts and after an attempted throw by Jenkins, Tovell gets the guillotine and pulls guard. Jenkins tries to escape and gets caught in the ropes and as the ref splits the action up, Jenkins' head drops to the floor and the match is over in twenty nine seconds.

Speaking to Jenkins after the fight, he said the choke was in tight and he was out before he was in the ropes. Tovell is now the new Middleweight Champion, £350 better off with an offer of a sponsorship deal and a guaranteed a fight abroad, not bad for twenty-nine seconds work!

Conclusion: Once more, promoter Dale Adams pulled off another night of quality action, steering away from heavyweight matches that all too often end up as hugfests; instead he managed to match up some very exciting matches and introduced some fresh new talent onto the UK scene. The international fighters certainly impressed the fans and am sure will be back for UC4 which hits the UK December 1st, where UFC veteran Dan Severn is set to fight; watch this space!