UFC, Bellator fighters defeated at Copa Podio

RIO DE JANEIRO — Mixed martial artists had a rough night at Copa Podio.

Copa Podio, one of the top jiu-jitsu promotions in Brazil, featured a one-night heavyweight grand prix Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, and UFC veterans Vinny Magalhaes and Delson Heleno came up short. Both Magalhaes and Heleno won two out of three matches, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the semifinals.

Two-time Copa Podio tournament winner Felipe Preguiça was upset by BJJ brown belt Victor Honorio in his third match (2-1 in advantages) in the group stage, but came back to beat him in the finals. With 21 seconds left, Preguiça choked out Honorio to win his third Copa Podio GP.

In the special jiu-jitsu match, UFC welterweight Sergio Moraes faced fellow BJJ world champion Leandro Lo. Lo, who tapped UFC lightweight Gilbert Burns in a previous Copa Podio event in 2014, swept and took Moraes’ back to win by points.

Moraes is scheduled to meet Peter Sobotta at UFC Fight Night 69 on June 20 in Berlin.

“We change a lot our style when we go from jiu-jitsu to MMA. I never did training camps in my life, what I do is stay ready to fight all the time,” Moraes told MMAFighting.com. “I’m ready to make weight and fight again next week. That’s why I want to compete in everything from now on. MMA, jiu-jitsu, muay thai. I want to test myself.”

Bellator featherweight Goiti Yamauchi, who is slated to fight former champion Pat Curran at Bellator 139, stepped in to challenge former UFC and PRIDE fighter Milton Vieira in a no-gi match. The match promised to be an exciting one but didn’t live up to the hype, and Vieira won by advantages after 10 minutes.

“This match was a great training for me,” Yamauchi told MMAFighting.com. “I felt the adrenaline of facing a grappler and did well. I didn’t win, but fought well and believe I deserved the win. MMA is completely different, though. My age and jiu-jitsu will make the difference in this fight. Be ready, Pat Curran.”

In the third special match, Gregor Gracie submitted Daniel Moraes with an arm-triangle choke.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Mixed martial artists had a rough night at Copa Podio.

Copa Podio, one of the top jiu-jitsu promotions in Brazil, featured a one-night heavyweight grand prix Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, and UFC veterans Vinny Magalhaes and Delson Heleno came up short. Both Magalhaes and Heleno won two out of three matches, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the semifinals.

Two-time Copa Podio tournament winner Felipe Preguiça was upset by BJJ brown belt Victor Honorio in his third match (2-1 in advantages) in the group stage, but came back to beat him in the finals. With 21 seconds left, Preguiça choked out Honorio to win his third Copa Podio GP.

In the special jiu-jitsu match, UFC welterweight Sergio Moraes faced fellow BJJ world champion Leandro Lo. Lo, who tapped UFC lightweight Gilbert Burns in a previous Copa Podio event in 2014, swept and took Moraes’ back to win by points.

Moraes is scheduled to meet Peter Sobotta at UFC Fight Night 69 on June 20 in Berlin.

“We change a lot our style when we go from jiu-jitsu to MMA. I never did training camps in my life, what I do is stay ready to fight all the time,” Moraes told MMAFighting.com. “I’m ready to make weight and fight again next week. That’s why I want to compete in everything from now on. MMA, jiu-jitsu, muay thai. I want to test myself.”

Bellator featherweight Goiti Yamauchi, who is slated to fight former champion Pat Curran at Bellator 139, stepped in to challenge former UFC and PRIDE fighter Milton Vieira in a no-gi match. The match promised to be an exciting one but didn’t live up to the hype, and Vieira won by advantages after 10 minutes.

“This match was a great training for me,” Yamauchi told MMAFighting.com. “I felt the adrenaline of facing a grappler and did well. I didn’t win, but fought well and believe I deserved the win. MMA is completely different, though. My age and jiu-jitsu will make the difference in this fight. Be ready, Pat Curran.”

In the third special match, Gregor Gracie submitted Daniel Moraes with an arm-triangle choke.