Stipe Miocic made good on his status as a massive favorite, absolutely demolishing Fabio Maldonado in the main event to the card on Saturday night. Maldonado came out of the gate swinging but did little after landing a big punch. Miocic reared back and landed a massive right hand that put Maldonado onto his back, and he finished it up shortly thereafter.
It’s a great win for the rising heavyweight. For those who don’t remember, he was originally slated to face former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos. He needed a big win, and he got just that.
In the co-co-main events, the two The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 final bouts showed how great the show can be…and how painfully bad it can be.
The middleweight finals between Warlley Alves and Marcio Alexandre Jr. showcased an instant star in Alves. The soon-to-be-welterweight was downright explosive and took it to his outclassed opponent from beginning to end, dominating him for 10 minutes before finishing him in the third round.
The heavyweight finals, though, was awful by comparison. Vitor Miranda, a kickboxer, and Antonio Carlos Jr., a BJJ player, generally neutralized each other, with neither mustering up any offense. The grappler would get the win based largely on authoritative top control, but neither fighter wowed anybody, and it would be surprising if either one of them had a particularly noteworthy career after TUF.
WARley Alves.
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) June 1, 2014
Demian Maia was given a tomato can to crush in his match with Alexander Yakovlev. Maia has been a steady presence in the welterweight division’s top 10, while Yakovlev was making his UFC debut. The Brazilian veteran did precisely what he was meant to do, and he crushed Yakovlev with little effort.
TUF Brazil 1 featherweight winner Rony “Jason” Bezerra was on the wrong end of a close split decision against Robbie Peralta. Both fighters had their moments of success, and opinions on who won the fight varied. In the end, the American got the nod to the tune of 29-28, 27-30, 29-28.
Few fighters on the Fox Sports 1 portion of the preliminary card stood out, but the Fight Pass Prelim winners all impressed. TUF Brazil 3 also-rans Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ricardo Abreu both logged impressive finishes, and Pedro Munhoz showed that he might be a high-level bantamweight in spite of his relative lack of UFC experience.
The main card results are as follows:
- Stipe Miocic def. Fabio Maldonado, KO (Round 1, 0:37)
- Antonio Carlos Jr. def. Vitor Miranda, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Warlley Alves def. Marcio Alexandre Jr., submission (Round 3, 0:25)
- Demian Maia def. Alexander Yakovlev, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Robbie Peralta def. Rony Jason, split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
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