Referee Responds To UFC Sao Paulo Main Event Criticisms

The referee presiding over the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 from São Paulo, Brazil, has responded to some criticisms of the fight’s stoppage. Longtime referee Marc Goddard saw a strange scenario during the fight. Eryk Anders’ mouthpiece fell out during the third round of his battle with Thiago Santos. […]

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The referee presiding over the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 from São Paulo, Brazil, has responded to some criticisms of the fight’s stoppage.

Longtime referee Marc Goddard saw a strange scenario during the fight. Eryk Anders’ mouthpiece fell out during the third round of his battle with Thiago Santos. Santos had been landing far more power strikes throughout the fight. Anders, meanwhile, controlled the grappling department with many takedowns, making the fight a closely-contested main event.

Anders was attempting another one when Goddard stopped the action towards the end of the third frame. The referee awarded Anders position back, but it didn’t end in his favor.

Santos began unloading an assault of elbows and punches to Anders’ temple (watch highlights here). The tiring replacement fighter was wobbled badly. Anders concerningly fell three times after the round ended. Goddard called the fight off as a result.

At least one fighter had an exception with the ref’s decision. Top-ranked lightweight contender Kevin Lee is that man. Lee immediately called out Goddard on Twitter after the fight:

Goddard Responds

Goddard responded shortly thereafter that he did the right thing by giving Anders his position back. He only returned the fighters to their original position, which he insisted was the right call:

The rising middleweight may have lost but earned an extra $50,000 for a “Fight of the Night” bonus in a bout he was hospitalized for afterward. For his part, he had a rather nonchalant reaction.

Anders wants to fight again rather soon despite taking an insane amount of damage at the end of the third round. It was a great fight, and he must have been cleared at the aforementioned medical facility.

Goddard did the best thing he could have done. The controversy seems a bit of a moot point right now. Do you believe Goddard impacted the violent end of the fight with the decision?

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Eryk Anders Reacts To Brutal UFC Sao Paulo Loss

Usual middleweight Eryk Anders took a big chance when he replaced Jimi Manuwa and battled Thiago Santos in the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. Anders ultimately lost via vicious ground and pound from the brutal striker Santos (watch highlights here). […]

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Usual middleweight Eryk Anders took a big chance when he replaced Jimi Manuwa and battled Thiago Santos in the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.

Anders ultimately lost via vicious ground and pound from the brutal striker Santos (watch highlights here). ‘Ya Boi’ did earn a well-deserved $50,000 for the card’s ‘Fight of the Night’ along with ‘Marreta.’

But the former Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker can’t hang his hat on the performance in a fight that was a back-and-forth war. True, he lost in a somewhat scary fashion after collapsing following the third round. Anders ended up in the hospital because of it.

You couldn’t tell by his post-fight reaction, however. Despite being hospitalized, ‘Ya Boi’ had a relaxed reaction to his short-notice loss. He vowed to be back in action before year’s end:

He’ll most likely return to middleweight. It was frightening to see him collapse after absorbing a nonstop torrent of elbows from Santos. However, he seems to be fine. He goal is to continue building a reputation as one of the most active fighters in the UFC.

Should he take more time off after the scary loss?

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Video: Charles Oliveira Breaks Royce Gracie’s Submission Record

History was at stake when Charles Oliveira made the trip to the Octagon to fight Christos Giagos on the prelims of tonight’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. The flashy, constricting submission specialist had scored 10 tapouts in his eight-year UFC tenure. The number tied him […]

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History was at stake when Charles Oliveira made the trip to the Octagon to fight Christos Giagos on the prelims of tonight’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.

The flashy, constricting submission specialist had scored 10 tapouts in his eight-year UFC tenure. The number tied him with UFC and MMA pioneer Royce Gracie for the most of all-time. The current lightweight and sometime featherweight had an up-and-down UFC career at times. His grappling, however, was always one of the most dangerous single skillsets in mixed martial arts.

The Brazilian mat technician proved why once again in Sao Paulo, submitting Giagos with a rear-naked choke. He finished UFC foes with six different submissions. With this latest win, he now passes Royce Gracie for the record of most submissions in UFC history. He’s submitted Jeremy Stephens, Clay Guida, Darren Elkins, and Myles Jury, among others.

Oliveira is now in a class of his own in a fitting piece of UFC history after two longtime fighters had retired on the card. Watch his record-breaking submission here:

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Alex Oliveira vs. Carlo Pedersoli Full Fight Video Highlights

Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira came into his co-main event against late replacement Carlo Pedersoli at last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil, with the momentum of a win over a former champion. He kept that momentum rolling, and it didn’t take him long. Oliveira caught a […]

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Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira came into his co-main event against late replacement Carlo Pedersoli at last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil, with the momentum of a win over a former champion.

He kept that momentum rolling, and it didn’t take him long.

Oliveira caught a kick from Pedersoli early and fired back with a strong right hand, flooring Pedersoli. From there it didn’t take long as Oliveira poured on the damage to score a second straight victory.

Watch the full fight video highlights here – which are essentially the whole fight:

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Thiago Santos vs. Eryk Anders Full Fight Video Highlights

Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders went to all-out war in the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. There’s just no other way to put it. The original headliner for the event was supposed to be Jimi Manuwa vs. Glover Teixeira. Teixeira […]

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Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders went to all-out war in the main event of last night’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.

There’s just no other way to put it.

The original headliner for the event was supposed to be Jimi Manuwa vs. Glover Teixeira. Teixeira withdrew due to injury and usual middleweight Santos replaced him. Manuwa then withdrew and Anders – also a middleweight – replaced him at light heavyweight. But although the fighters were ‘replacements,’ they fought like champions in Sao Paulo.

The hometown competitor came out winging his trademark powerful offense. He landed straight punches, knees, and massive kicks to the body. But Anders attempted to neutralize “Marreta” with a relentless onslaught of takedown attempts. Some were successful but he was unable to ground the Brazilian striker for too long. That is until he took Santos’ back and threatened with a rear-naked choke.

The Brazilian survived and even reversed position. He found his kicking range again, but the action was halted by an eye poke. When Anders sought another takedown after a brief break, Santos began unloading a nonstop torrent of short elbows and punches that left Anders battered as the bell sounded on the third round. He fell to the mat three times in a concerning scene, awarding Santos the win in an absolutely awesome fight that won “Fight of the Night” as it deserved to.

Watch the highlights of the action-filled bout here:

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UFC Sao Paulo Post-Fight Press Conference

This evening’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 is in the books from the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. Now it’s time to watch the aftermath in the post-fight press conference. In the main event, middleweights Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders squared off at light heavyweight. Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira both […]

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This evening’s (Sat., September 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 137 is in the books from the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. Now it’s time to watch the aftermath in the post-fight press conference.

In the main event, middleweights Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders squared off at light heavyweight. Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira both previously dropped out of the fight due to injury. The two replacement fighters put on a rousing three-round fight with Santos taking home a vicious referee stoppage.

In the co-headliner, Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira secured a brutally fast stoppage over Carlo Pedersoli. Neil Magny was his original opponent. Oliveira took out his anger quickly on his late replacement, flooring him with a huge punch in the first round and finishing the fight quick.

Overall, the event was a bit short on big-name value. However, it more than made up for that with the retirements of two longtime veterans. It was also an event to remember due to its wide variety of impressive finishes by several fighters. Santos was the obvious one, but there were many other worthy finishes.

There’s a good amount to unpack from Sao Paulo, so join us for the post-fight press conference streaming live after the main card here:

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