UFC 140 Results: Jared Hamman Suffers Another Setback in Loss vs. Philippou

Jared Hamman was unable to survive a barrage of punches from Constantinos Philippou at UFC 140, suffering a knockout before the end of Round 1. It's another setback for the American fighter, who entered Saturday's bout as the favorite.

Following a win over C.B. Dollaway in his middleweight debut in August, “The Messenger” was hoping to build some positive momentum with another victory. Instead, he's forced to regroup after tasting defeat three times in his last five fights.

The former college football player has gained the reputation as somebody whose willing to enter an extended brawl. That looked like it was going to be the case again vs. Philippou, but he was unable to mount any semblance of a comeback.

Hamman was able to land a couple early shots, but once Philippou gained control with a couple quick combinations, there was no turning back.

After crumbling to the mat following a sturdy right hand from “Costa,” the referee had no choice but to call the fight. The only explanation for such a lackadaisical showing from Hamman would be that he was unprepared for Cypriot's power.

At 29, Hamman needs to turn things around quickly.

He doesn't have enough time left in his career to be alternating wins and losses. He's illustrated his terrific skills in his back-to-back fights of the night last year but needs to exhibit those more often.

On the flip side, three of his four professional losses have come via first-round KO. He really needs to work on getting off to better starts if he wants to take his career to the next level. There's really no reason to get knocked out that quickly on such a frequent basis.

If he can fix the problem, it'll go a long way in making him a more well-rounded fighter. Something he certainly has the talent to achieve.