The six-foot-three Parisian, who trains at champion Georges St-Pierre's Tristar Gym in Montreal, used his size advantage to keep Camozzi off his game and win a unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27.
"Chris is a tough guy, but this is what I do and I do it well," said the 30-year-old middleweight. "I'm ready for my next fight in a few months."
Carmont gave some of the Canadians who made the trip to Los Vegas something to cheer about after St-Pierre was forced to pull out of his scheduled title fight against Carlos Condit with a knee injury.
After a slow first round, Carmont brought the crowd to its feet in the second -- body slamming Camozzi, the former rugby player from Durango, Colo.
A half minute later he dropped Camozzi again with a big left hand and jumped on top of him looking for the finish. Carmont couldn't get it, despite several Canadian fans cheering him on. But his dominance was on full display as fans continued to trickle into the Mandalay Bay casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip to see the night's main event between Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn.
A bloody Camozzi fought to survive in the third round and literally stayed on the ground until Carmont signalled for him to get up. Carmont caught him with a couple of solid shots, but nothing as staggering as what he connected with in the second round.
Camozzi, who actually hooked on a kimura in the final seconds but couldn't lock it in, said the Carmont's reach threw off his game plan.
"I just wasn't able to pull the trigger on him. His distance really threw me off the entire bout," Camozzi said. "I had a great training camp. I really felt prepared for this. I just have to go back and work on a few things."
The bout might have marked the 24th fight of Carmont's career, but he said the scene at his first UFC fight was special.
"I couldn't be happier with the outcome," Carmont said. "I love what I do and I'm going to keep on doing it.
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