On Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 77 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Vitor Belfort won the rubber match between him and Dan Henderson. The win looked similar to his last one against Henderson back in November 2013.
After each fighter showed the other a ton of respect in the opening moments of the bout, the 38-year-old Belfort unleashed a head kick on the 45-year-old Henderson that found its mark. Henderson thought the strike was coming low, and he ducked right into its path.
Belfort’s shin caught him flush in the face, and Henderson stumbled into the cage. Charged by the raucous crowd, the Brazilian’s finishing instincts immediately kicked in. He pounced on the reeling Henderson and pounded him out until referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in.
Fox Sports shared the finish:
Henderson protested, but the stoppage was a good one. He was badly hurt, and there were just less than three minutes left in the round. Yamasaki did his job in sparing Henderson unnecessary damage.
Per MMA Fighting, Belfort said the key to his win was patience, and he made a reference to his previous loss to UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman:
Henderson was more simplistic in his description of his loss:
It’s hard to know what to make of Belfort at this point in his career. As he comes up on 40 years of age, it’s clear that his best days are behind him, but it’s also evident that he still has some explosion. How many more wins does he realistically need to earn another shot at the title?
Perhaps the better question is this: Does he have enough left in the tank to secure those victories?
Maybe the answer is no, but it’ll likely be an entertaining ride nonetheless.
Henderson should retire, but he probably won’t. He’s lost six of his last eight fights, with four of the defeats coming by stoppage.
There’s nothing left for him to accomplish. He’ll never be a UFC champion again, and there are only a handful of guys he can still be competitive against. Even if the UFC were to cut him, he’d land with Bellator faster than Ronda Rousey can submit an opponent.
You can only hope he gets and listens to some sound career advice.
Teixeira Smokes Cummins
Patrick Cummins is a world-class wrestler but not much else. Early in his co-main event bout with Glover Teixeira, Cummins successfully took Teixeira down twice. However, the Brazilian quickly made it back to his feet both times.
From there, the fight was all downhill for Cummins.
Teixeira rocked him twice in the first round with hard punches. The second time came right before the end of the round. Had there been about 30 more seconds left, Cummins might have succumbed in that frame.
In the second round, Teixeira picked up where he left off. He teed off with hard lefts and rights until referee Herb Dean had to step in to end the assault. Ken Myers of FightMatch.com shared the finish:
When it was over, Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.com provided Teixeira’s quote about his game plan coming into the fight:
Teixeira and his team have to be happy with the result. With the win, he remains a strong title contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, though he’ll likely have to wait before he gets another chance at the gold.
A battle with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson might be a logical next fight for him. Both men had chances to win the title in the last two years but failed. They may as well use each other to climb back up the ladder. Here’s a look at all of the results from a destructive Saturday night in Sao Paulo.
| UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| Bruno Korea vs. Matheus Nicolau | Bantamweight | Nicolau by submission (Japanese necktie, third round) |
| Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera | Bantamweight | Rivera by split decision (28-29, 29-28×2) |
| Viscardi Andrade vs. Gasan Umalatov | Welterweight | Andrade by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28) |
| Fox Sports 1 Prelims | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| Kevin Souza vs. Chas Skelly | Featherweight | Skelly by submission (rear-naked choke, second round) |
| Clay Guida vs. Thiago Tavares | Featherweight | Tavares by submission (guillotine, first round) |
| Yan Cabral vs. Johnny Case | Lightweight | Case by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) |
| Gleison Tibau vs. Abel Trujillo | Lightweight | Tibau by submission (rear-naked choke, first round) |
| Fox Sports 1 Main Card | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | Result |
| Fabio Maldonado vs. Corey Anderson | Light Heavyweight | Anderson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) |
| Gilbert Burns vs. Rashid Magomedov | Lightweight | Magomedov by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) |
| Alex Oliveira vs. Piotr Hallmann | Lightweight | Oliveira by KO in third round |
| Thomas Almeida vs. Anthony Birchak | Bantamweight | Almeida by KO in first round |
| Glover Teixeira vs. Patrick Cummins | Light Heavyweight | Teixeira by TKO in second round |
| Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson | Light Heavyweight | Belfort by TKO in first round |
Nicolau Makes Statement
In an entertaining opening bout, Matheus Nicolau took a back-and-forth battle over Bruno Korea with a third-round submission victory via Japanese necktie. After controlling the first round, Nicolau ate a spinning kick that dropped him in the second.
Nicolau looked a little dazed, but he was able to get through the round. In the third, both men opened up their games in search of control in the final five minutes.
A scramble on the ground saw Nicolau take control and wind up with the choke that Korea couldn’t escape from.
Rivera Outlasts Munhoz
Competitive battles were the early theme. The difference in the matchup between Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz was the hand speed and boxing of the former.
In the first round, he used counter uppercuts and combinations on the inside to land the more significant strikes. After Munhoz mounted a better attack in the second, Rivera came back with more of the action he used to gain an advantage in the first.
More accurate striking led to Rivera getting the edge in the third round and ultimately the decision win.
Andrade Handles Umalatov
Per UFC.com, Viscardi Andrade outlanded Gasan Umalatov 78-38 en route to an easy unanimous-decision win. Umalatov’s slow hands and feet made winning this fight a long shot, and he was unable to take the battle to the ground to eliminate the speed disadvantage.
One judge gave a round to Umalatov, but that was generous.
Skelly Wins a Wild One
Things got hairy for Chas Skelly in the first round, but he leaned on his superior submission game to pull out the win. In the first round, Kevin Souza rocked Skelly and nearly had his opponent out. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he didn’t finish the job.
In the second round, Skelly was able to get the fight to the mat, where he’s more comfortable. Souza has had issues defending submissions in the past, having lost three previous bouts via tapout.
Skelly would give Souza his fourth such defeat courtesy of a rear-naked choke despite injuring his foot at some point in the decisive round, per Fox Sports:
Skelly doesn’t necessarily look like a major contender, but MMA Fighting noted you can’t ignore his accomplishments:
Record-Setting Win for Tavares
It took just 39 seconds for Thiago Tavares to make Clay Guida submit. Guida shot for the double-leg takedown, and Tavares immediately locked in the guillotine. Guida tried to roll out of it, but Tavares cinched it in even tighter.
Guida had no choice but to tap out. It was the fastest submission win in UFC featherweight history. Per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, Guida’s memorable career may be in bad shape:
It’s hard to imagine where Guida goes from here. He’s not a big puncher, and it’s clear his grappling isn’t as effective at 145 pounds. With that said, dropping back down to 135 pounds doesn’t seem realistic or safe for the 33-year-old.
Johnny on the Case
With the charisma of a young, up-and-coming movie star in the Octagon, Johnny Case secured another win. After losing a grappling battle in the first round against Yan Cabral, Case was able to do serious damage on his feet in the second frame.
A right-left combination dropped Cabral and badly bloodied his face. Case couldn’t get the stoppage, but he took firm control of the fight with the big round. Cabral had a brief moment in the third, but Case quickly regained control of the action by getting to his feet and teeing off with hard punches.
It was an impressive performance from Case, and afterward, he called out phenom Sage Northcutt. Per MMA Fighting, Case called Northcutt a Mark-Paul Gosselaar lookalike:
That’s funny.
Tibau Beats Trujillo in Controversial Ending
Gleison Tibau was dominating the one-dimensional Abel Trujillo with relative ease. He’d gained full mount twice and transitioned to a head-and-arm choke.
It looked as though Trujillo was moments away from tapping, but he hadn’t given up. Nonetheless, referee Keith Peterson called an end to the bout. Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com immediately wanted to see the replay:
In Peterson’s defense, Trujillo did close his eyes. That’s normally a sign that a guy has gone to sleep. These fights happen fast, and the refs are always taught to err on the side of caution.
While the stoppage might have been early, there’s no doubt that the end result would have been the same. Per Mike Bohn of USA Today, Tibau believes the same thing:
Anderson Breezes Past Maldonado
Corey Anderson made easy work of Fabio Maldonado in the first fight on the main card. Maldonado leans heavily on his chin and punching power. Anderson disregarded the home-standing Maldonado’s qualities as he took turns beating the Brazilian in the stand-up and on the ground.
According to UFC.com, Anderson landed 60 significant strikes, compared to just 26 for Maldonado. He also secured six takedowns.
There was only one way to score this one-sided beatdown. Anderson won every round on all three judges’ scorecards.
Magomedov Extinguishes Burns’ Unblemished Record
Gilbert Burns came into his fight with Rashid Magomedov unbeaten; he left with the first loss of his MMA career. In a dominant performance, Magomedov had his way with Burns.
The Russian landed 80 significant strikes, compared to just 28 for Burns. The latter attempted to take the fight to the ground to work his expert submission game, but Magomedov was having none of it.
He escaped every one of Burns’ overtures and easily waltzed to the unanimous-decision win.
Oliveira Smashes Hallmann
Charles “Cowboy” Oliveira put on another hallmark performance on his way up the UFC’s lightweight ladder. On Saturday, he beat up Piotr Hallmann for two-plus rounds and then knocked him out with a couple of huge right hands to the chin.
The second shot had Hallmann out before his limp body came crashing down to the mat. Karyn Bryant of Fox Sports brought out the cheerleader chant to describe the KO:
The hardworking Brazilian has turned in one of the most productive years in the promotion. Since losing his UFC debut to Burns in March, Oliveira has reeled off three straight victories.
Almeida Demolishes Birchak
For a few moments, Anthony Birchak made it appear as though he might make his fight with Thomas Almeida competitive. That didn’t last long.
With just 24 seconds left in the first round, Almeida landed a nasty combination that left Birchak lying grotesquely against the Octagon cage and unconscious. Radio Formula’s Esteban Tapia shared the vicious finish:
Almeida improved his MMA record to 21-0 with the win, and he is rapidly approaching a title shot at 135 pounds. With a few more wins, it’s only a matter of time before fans will be calling for an Almeida vs. T.J. Dillashaw match.
At this point, I’m not sure how big of a favorite Dillashaw would be.
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