After suffering an embarrassing 14-second KO at the hands of Anthony Perosh at UFC 163 last Saturday, Vinny Magalhaes stands on the precipice of being cut from the UFC.
If that happens it would be the second time the Brazilian has been ignominiously ousted from the world’s premier MMA outfit, and, this time, it will probably be his last.
The Brazilian first burst on the scene when the made the final of The Ultimate Fighter TV show in 2008. But after a loss to Ryan Bader in the finale and then another loss to Eliot Marshall at UFC 97, the light heavyweight’s services were no longer required.
Now, after his return to the promotion earlier this year, he’s lost two on the trot.
In April, he was comprehensively beaten by potential 205-pound title hopeful Phil Davis after haranguing him on Twitter for months. That was a bold move that could have paid high dividends for Magalhaes had he won. But instead, after being exposed as a lesser talent over three miserable rounds, Magalhaes was left looking for a comeback fight to reassert his pretensions as an elite light heavyweight.
Of course it would be foolish to write off the former ADCC champion off entirely. Since leaving the UFC he went on a tear, winning and defending the M-1 Global light heavyweight title and looking incredibly assured doing it.
It was these performances that brought him back into the UFC fold, but he’s yet to replicate them inside the Octagon.
From one perspective, losing to Davis, who’s a serious contender in the division, is nothing to be ashamed of. Nor is getting knocked out so unexpectedly. MMA is an unpredictable sport and everyone can get clipped. A freak knockout like the one he suffered on Saturday at the hands of Perosh may take some time to shake off, but it happens to the best.
Still, Magalhaes’ wings have definitely been clipped, and he has some work to do to fix his career. If he does survive in the UFC, then he can expect to face other lower-ranked opponents until he can prove himself.
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