Video: Sam Stout on disappointing win, sales tag on Cody McKenzie’s shorts

SACRAMENTO – Sam Stout has mixed feelings about his unanimous-decision win over Cody McKenzie on the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 9 event.

On one hand, he pitched a shutout on judges’ scorecards, earning unanimous 30-27 scores. He also fought off McKenzie’s vaunted guillotine, a choke that was responsible for a previous loss to James Krause.

On the other, the fight, which aired on FOX Sports 1 from Sacramento’s Sleep Train Arena, wasn’t exactly the action-packed affair that Stout (20-9-1 MA, 9-8 UFC) is known for delivering inside the octagon. And that’s perhaps why the 29-year-old Canadian came off a little disappointed in post-fight comments distributed to the media following his win over McKenzie (14-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC).

“I’m happy with the fact that I was able to do what I planned to do,” Stout told MMAjunkie after the fight. “It might have come off like [I was disappointed] because I’ve got a reputation for putting on exciting fights, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in. I kind of felt like I played it a little safer than I had in the past, but I had to weigh out the risks and rewards in terms of going out and letting it all hang out, and I just felt like I needed the win more than I needed the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.

“I didn’t want to risk getting my neck caught. I didn’t want to make a stupid mistake and end up losing, especially two fights in a row by guillotine.”

McKenzie threatened with the choke in the bout’s opening frame, when Stout said his timing felt off. More comically, he also offered a distraction in the form of a tag hanging from his short, which apparently had been purchased before the event after McKenzie forgot his shorts in his hotel room.

“Cody is a rare character,” Stout said. “Thank God I had a veteran referee in Herb Dean. He didn’t even stop the action, just yanked the tags off.”

Stout, though, didn’t catch the shorts’ retailer: “I don’t know. [Cody] was trying to punch me in the face and choke me.”

In his past seven bouts, Stout has alternated between wins and losses. But despite six performance bonuses for “Fight of the Night” or “Knockout of the Night, he has yet to win more than two in a row.

The veteran fighter aims to change that, and hopes to earn more prominent placement on future UFC cards.

“I’d like to start working my way back up and not be the third fight on the night, and just keep climbing up those rankings,” Stout said.

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 9, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.