Introduction
UFC Fight Night 27: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 took place on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 824,000 average viewers with a peak of 1.017 million. The event delivered the full-circle conclusion to one of the more satisfying rivalry arcs in the Fight Night era: Carlos Condit had lost his UFC debut to Martin Kampmann via contested split decision at Fight Night 18 in 2009. Four years later, in the same welterweight division, he finished Kampmann with a TKO in round four to earn both the win and Fight of the Night honours.
The co-main event saw Rafael dos Anjos defeat Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision in their first-ever meeting — a significant lightweight bout between two future top-ten contenders. Elsewhere on the card, Robert Whittaker — competing at welterweight before his eventual move to middleweight — lost a close split decision to Court McGee. Kelvin Gastelum submitted Brian Melancon in round one.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2013
📍 Venue: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
👥 Attendance: 6,417
💰 Gate: $355,290
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 824,000 avg. viewers (1.017M peak)
🏆 Main Event: Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann — Welterweight (Rematch from Fight Night 18, 2009)
✅ Result: Condit def. Kampmann via TKO (knees and punches) — R4, 0:54
The Build-Up
The narrative entering Fight Night 27 was driven by Condit’s unresolved business. His April 2009 UFC debut at Fight Night 18 had ended in a split decision loss to Kampmann — a verdict that FightMetric scored as a draw and that Condit had never accepted as a fair result. In the four years between fights, Condit had won the interim UFC welterweight title, challenged Georges St-Pierre for the undisputed belt, and established himself as a genuine welterweight elite. The rematch had genuine stakes: a win over Kampmann would cement Condit’s return to title contention.
Main Event: Condit vs. Kampmann 2
Condit’s trademark blitzing offence — the speed-combination-knee attacks that had finished multiple opponents — battered Kampmann across three competitive rounds. In round four, Condit landed a knee combination that put Kampmann down and followed with punches before the referee intervened at 0:54. The finish was emphatic, the narrative satisfying. Condit and Kampmann shared Fight of the Night honours.
Co-Main: dos Anjos vs. Cerrone
Rafael dos Anjos versus Donald Cerrone was a matchup between two of the lightweight division’s most technically complete fighters. Dos Anjos took the unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in a competitive three rounds. The win moved RDA into the top-ten lightweight contender picture. He would go on to win the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 185 in March 2015.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Carlos Condit def. Martin Kampmann — TKO (knees and punches) — R4, 0:54 — Welterweight (Fight of the Night; avenges FN18 debut loss)
Rafael dos Anjos def. Donald Cerrone — Unanimous Decision (29-28x3) — Lightweight (first meeting between two future title contenders)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Brian Melancon — Submission (RNC) — R1, 2:26 — Welterweight
Court McGee def. Robert Whittaker — Split Decision — Welterweight (Whittaker’s early welterweight career before his MW move)
Takeya Mizugaki def. Erik Perez — Split Decision — Bantamweight
Brad Tavares def. Bubba McDaniel — Unanimous Decision — Middleweight
Preliminary Card
Brandon Thatch def. Justin Edwards — TKO (knees) — Welterweight (Knockout of the Night, $50,000)
Zak Cummings def. Benny Alloway — Submission — Welterweight (Submission of the Night, $50,000)
Dylan Andrews def. Papy Abedi — KO — R3, 1:32 — Middleweight
Darren Elkins def. Hatsu Hioki — Featherweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Carlos Condit + Martin Kampmann — $50,000 each
🥇 Knockout of the Night: Brandon Thatch — $50,000
🥇 Submission of the Night: Zak Cummings — $50,000
Records & Milestones
• Carlos Condit avenges his disputed 2009 UFC debut loss to Kampmann with a TKO finish — closing a 4-year rivalry arc.
• Rafael dos Anjos def. Cerrone in a 3-round decision — first meeting of two future top-5 lightweights.
• Robert Whittaker’s early welterweight career — the future UFC middleweight champion competing at 170 lbs before his divisional move.
Legacy & Impact
Fight Night 27 is one of the more narratively satisfying events in the Fight Night series. Condit’s TKO of Kampmann closed a storyline that had been open since April 2009. The card was also notable for the fight-career timing of several fighters who would later become far more prominent: Robert Whittaker at welterweight, Kelvin Gastelum in his early submissions, and RDA building his contender run at lightweight.
FAQ
What was the full story of the Condit-Kampmann rivalry?
Fight 1: UFC Fight Night 18, April 2009, Nashville. Condit’s UFC debut. Kampmann won via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). FightMetric scored the fight a draw. The verdict was widely disputed. Fight 2: UFC Fight Night 27, August 2013, Indianapolis. Condit was by then an interim UFC champion and had challenged GSP. He finished Kampmann with a knee-and-punch TKO at 0:54 of round four. The rivalry required four years and one interim title to resolve. Condit earned both the win and Fight of the Night.
How significant was the dos Anjos vs. Cerrone fight?
In August 2013, both fighters were in the top-ten lightweight contender bracket but neither was seen as an immediate title challenger. RDA’s unanimous decision victory moved him into the genuine title picture. Cerrone, despite the loss, continued building a remarkable Fight Night record — eventually becoming the all-time fight-night bonus leader. They fought a rematch at UFC on Fox 13 in December 2014, which RDA won by TKO in round two.
What weight class was Robert Whittaker competing at in August 2013?
Welterweight. Whittaker entered the UFC as a welterweight following his TUF 16 win and fought several times at 170 lbs before his 2014 move to middleweight. The loss to Court McGee at Fight Night 27 was part of a difficult welterweight run; he went 2-4 at 170 before dropping to middleweight, where his career immediately transformed. He went 12-0 in his first twelve UFC MW appearances, eventually becoming the undisputed UFC middleweight champion and a two-time title challenger in one of the most decorated middleweight careers in UFC history.
How did Kelvin Gastelum perform in his early UFC career?
Gastelum entered the UFC as a TUF 17 winner and the Melancon submission was one of his early UFC appearances. He went 5-0 in his first five UFC fights before subsequent weight issues and a series of high-profile wins and losses defined his mid-career arc. By 2018–2019 he had become a genuine UFC middleweight title contender, fighting Israel Adesanya in a classic encounter for the interim MW title at UFC 236.
Why was Fight Night 27’s viewership lower than the Spike TV era?
Fox Sports 1 launched only eleven days before Fight Night 27 aired. The channel had not yet reached its full cable distribution and many fans had not yet added it to their channel packages. The early FS1 events in August and September 2013 consistently drew lower ratings than the late Spike TV era, which had access to approximately 100 million homes. FS1 was growing its distribution through 2013–2014; the 824,000 average reflects the early-adoption phase rather than a decline in fan interest.
What did Condit do after avenging the Kampmann loss?
Condit fought Tyron Woodley next at UFC 171 in March 2014, losing by TKO in round two in what was Woodley’s breakthrough performance. The post-Kampmann 2 run was marked by injury setbacks that limited his activity through 2014–2016. He remains one of the most technically gifted welterweights in UFC history, though his title window effectively closed with the GSP loss at UFC 154.