Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow was supposed to be a clash of styles between a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with budding striking skills against a tough, wrestling-based heavyweight. Instead of trying to drag the fight to the mat, however, Werdum …
Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow was supposed to be a clash of styles between a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with budding striking skills against a tough, wrestling-based heavyweight. Instead of trying to drag the fight to the mat, however, Werdum was able to establish his stand-up game against the American fighter.
The stoppage came at 2:25 of the first round in their UFC 147 bout on Saturday night, and Russow managed to land a few nice left hooks—but nothing else really went his way.
Werdum is a legitimate heavyweight contender again, and he claims he’s ready for a rematch with Junior dos Santos.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
We’ll remember that Werdum did what he was supposed to do: win as quickly as impossible, while brutally finishing an overmatched Russow. Werdum’s stand-up looked good against Russow, as the Brazilian was able to land shots almost at will—and Russow was unable to mount any significant offensive before he was leveled.
What We Learned About Fabricio Werdum
As he showed against Roy Nelson earlier in the year, Werdum’s striking has improved significantly over the years. He’s working diligently on his Muay Thai, and he has become a much more well-rounded fighter, so he’ll pose a threat to more opponents.
He didn’t need to utilize his strong BJJ game, and his future opponents shouldn’t forget that the ground game is still Werdum’s strength.
What We Learned About Mike Russow
Even though he was finished by Werdum, he was able to walk around the cage just fine after the fight. He’s a tough guy but was essentially sent to the slaughter by the UFC.
What’s Next For Mike Russow
Well, the UFC gave him a chance to step up and topple a top-ranked heavyweight, but he never stood a chance. Russow is a tough fighter with strong wrestling and heavy hands, but he should stay away from fighters in the top 10.
What’s Next For Fabricio Werdum
Werdum called for a rematch against JDS, but JDS needs to rematch Cain Velasquez first. I expect the UFC will give Werdum one more fight before earning a title shot against either JDS or Cain.
It’s a shame Fedor Emelianenko and the UFC couldn’t come to an agreement, because I think a possible rematch between Werdum and Fedor would be a lot of fun. Realistically, if he has to fight again, bring Daniel Cormier over from Strikeforce.
Wait, I said realistically…how about a fight against Frank Mir? I know Mir was just obliterated against JDS, but he’s still a top-level, talented heavyweight. It’d be fun to see how a fight between two excellent grapplers with emerging striking skills would go down.
Saturday night’s pay-per-view opening bout was yet another tightly contested UFC 147 fight. Hacran Dias came away with the unanimous decision victory after repeated takedowns and ground-and-pound on Yuri Alcantara.Here is what we learned about the…
Saturday night’s pay-per-view opening bout was yet another tightly contested UFC 147 fight. Hacran Dias came away with the unanimous decision victory after repeated takedowns and ground-and-pound on Yuri Alcantara.
Here is what we learned about the two featherweight warriors after their bout in Brazil:
What we’ll remember about this fight
Dias’ improved wrestling and active top game controlled the up-and-coming featherweight en route to the decision victory. Dias enters the fray at 145 pounds.
Alcantara entered 147 with a lot of hype after putting together a 13-fight win streak. However, famed MMA academy Nova União seems to have produced yet another featherweight prospect for the UFC.
What we learned about fighter Yuri Alcantara
Alcantara turned up the heat too late against Dias. But more importantly, he showed he still needs to develop a better takedown defense.
Dias has improved his wrestling, but Alcantara gave up too many takedowns to have a chance of pulling out the victory. With many good wrestlers in the featherweight division, he will need to address this hole in his game before he makes a run
What we learned about fighter Hacran Dias
Enter another contender from Nova União. Dias wins his ninth in the row by defeating Alcantara.
A debut win over Alcantara is perfect for Dias. He effectively stole all of his thunder and takes his place as the prospect to watch in the division. And with an improved wrestling attack to go along with his excellent submission game.
Nova União continues to produce elite level talent.
What’s next for fighter Yuri Alcantara
Alcantara needs a rebound fight. As long as his next opponent is not a top featherweight coming off of a loss, it makes sense.
What’s next for fighter Hacran Dias
A fight against Jason Young would make sense for Dias. After a stellar performance against Alcantara he needs another fight or two before taking on a contender in the division.
If UFC 147’s main card proves as entertaining as the FX prelims, we are in for an incredible Saturday night of fights.Brazil is a country that loves fights, and the preliminary fighters seemed eager to give fans what they like to see, as all four FX pr…
If UFC 147‘s main card proves as entertaining as the FX prelims, we are in for an incredible Saturday night of fights.
Brazil is a country that loves fights, and the preliminary fighters seemed eager to give fans what they like to see, as all four FX preliminary fights were fun to watch.
Thiago Perpetuo vs. Leonardo Mafra got things started off with a back-and-forth battle. Mafra likely won the first round. He seemed to land more punches than Perpetuo and was definitely more aggressive. In the second, the tides changed as Perpetuo was able to get top position on the ground and land some vicious elbows. In the third, Perpetuo landed a clean right hand that dropped Mafra and followed up with relentless punches until the fight was stopped.
After that, we saw Hugo Viana earn a hard fought split-decision victory over John Teixeira. Teixeira missed weight and came in at 150 lbs. He was noticeably bigger than Viana, who usually fights at bantamweight instead of feather. However, the smaller fighter was able to land effective counters throughout the fight and use his speed to win.
Francisco Drinaldo made a big statement by finishing the much-muscled Delson Heleno with strikes. Heleno tried to use his strength to bring the fight to the mat, but Drinaldo was surprisingly resilient, refusing to be brought to the ground and consistently landing heavy shots. Drinaldo eventually ended up on top of a seemingly gassed Heleno to earn the TKO from half-guard.
Rodrigo Damm looked good, submitting Anistavio Medeiros with a rear-naked choke in Round 1. Both fighters seemed content to exchange standing, and it was Damm who took advantage, badly hurting Medeiros with two solid combinations. Once on the ground it was clear that Medeiros was still rocked, and Damm was able to take the back and sink in the choke.
Four great fights with a variety of finishes, and it was all free.
Official Results
Thiago Perpetuo defeats Leonardo Mafra via TKO at 1:04 of Round 3
Hugo Viana defeats John Texeira via split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Francisco Drinaldo defeats Delson Heleno via TKO at 4:21 of Round 1
Rodrigo Damm defeats Anistavio Medeiros via rear-naked choke at 2:12 of Round 1
Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a stand-up comedian. Check him out on Twitter @AndrewBarr8.
The UFC makes its first stop in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, tonight for an extraordinarily cursed card that, let’s face it, we probably wouldn’t be watching if it wasn’t our job. Wanderlei Silva is fighting Rich Franklin again, this time at a 190-pound catchweight. (Also known as “middleweight plus.”) Fabricio Werdum is battling fellow big-man Mike Russow. And some guys from TUF Brazil are fighting too, although not all of the ones who should be. It is what it is. I’m guessing that very few of you will be buying this card, but if you’re out doing something more interesting tonight, please use your smart phones to follow along when you can.
Handling the thankless liveblog duties for this evening is Anthony Gannon, who will be layin’ down round-by-round updates from the UFC 147 pay-per-view main card after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. And to prevent this from becoming the least-commented CagePotato liveblog of all time, I encourage you to use the comments section to discuss anything that comes to mind. Seriously, it doesn’t have to be UFC related. I’ll give you a topic to start off with: Germany invaded Poland earlier today. Do you think America should get involved?
The UFC makes its first stop in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, tonight for an extraordinarily cursed card that, let’s face it, we probably wouldn’t be watching if it wasn’t our job. Wanderlei Silva is fighting Rich Franklin again, this time at a 190-pound catchweight. (Also known as “middleweight plus.”) Fabricio Werdum is battling fellow big-man Mike Russow. And some guys from TUF Brazil are fighting too, although not all of the ones who should be. It is what it is. I’m guessing that very few of you will be buying this card, but if you’re out doing something more interesting tonight, please use your smart phones to follow along when you can.
Handling the thankless liveblog duties for this evening is Anthony Gannon, who will be layin’ down round-by-round updates from the UFC 147 pay-per-view main card after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. And to prevent this from becoming the least-commented CagePotato liveblog of all time, I encourage you to use the comments section to discuss anything that comes to mind. Seriously, it doesn’t have to be UFC related. I’ll give you a topic to start off with: Germany invaded Poland earlier today. Do you think America should get involved?
Please stand by…
UFC 146, son! Bring on the wings, Natty Ice, and some of dem ho’s, cause I’m fittin’ to lose my mind. Up in here. Up in here. Oh wait, UFC 146 was last month. This is UFC 147, ya know, the one that should be free on the FUEL channel no one gets, right after All-Star Bass Fishing. Yep, they only bring me out for the important shit.
I’m not going to go so far as to say that UFC 147 is a suck-ass card, per se, but it’s certainly not worthy of $50. Hell, that Grant can be used to buy so many other things: a night of serious drinking at the local bar (happy hour of course), an intimate dinner for two at Denny’s, or, if you’re fortunate enough to find a massage joint randy enough to specialize in over 50 masseuses, a nice rub n’ tug. Hey, don’t knock experience, bitch. That shit counts.
This card is so bad it’s rumored that the UFC didn’t even bother sending Rogan and Goldy down for it. Instead, Goldy’s role is being filled by a Magic 8 ball with uber-white bottom teeth programmed with redundant phrases like, “These guys train hard, Joe.” Rogan will be replaced with a hologram set to repeat, “Nice leg kick” every 19 seconds.
Previously scheduled to be Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, this is a much better fight for Wandy. Rich Franklin is a bad dude, but he aint a killer like Vitor. I know we all love Wandy n’ all, but let’s be honest, Vitor would give him a severe beating ala Colonel Braddock on General Yin. It wasn’t that Yin was a chump. Quite the contrary. But Braddock was just a much better fighter, plus Yin put a rat in a bag and tied it to Braddock’s head, while hanging him upside down with his hands tied behind his back. Such acts tend to have a lasting effect on people and make them a tad vengeful. Incidentally, seven years of confinement, torture, and malnutrition didn’t much affect Braddock physically as he was able to easily beat Yin to death before he bounced up outta that piece.
Anyway, if recent history is any indication, though, tonight’s fights should be kick ass. The worse a card looks on paper, the better the fights are. It’s like a cosmological joke, or something. So let’s get pumped for a phenomenal card, because hot DAMN does this one look like dog shit.
We begin with a scan of the crowd, and they look fired up. Apparently no one told the Brazilians that this is a weak card. Rogan and Goldy play up the significance of the main event. And it’s very difficult to take Rich Franklin seriously when that hair makes him look like Lloyd Christmas.
Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias
Holy shit, Buffer busts out some Portuguese.
Round 1: God Arianny is hot. Here we go. Yuri fakes a kick. He charges forward, Dias pushes him into the cage, going for a trip, eventually gets it. He peppers Yuri with a few shots. Dias looking to take Yuri’s back. Now he’s on top, looking for a head and arm triangle, but the cage is in his way. Yuri is out of trouble, but still has Dias on top of him. Dias blasts him with an elbow. Yuri is up, but Dias slams him back to the mat. He’s in Yuri’s full guard. Dias controlling Yuri, but not doing much damage. Now Dias lands a few good ones. Yuri reverses out and is on Dias’ back, kneeing him in the ass. Dias has a standing Kimura, and they break. They end the round by trading kicks.
Round 2: Flying knee by Dias, skims Yuri. Yuri misses a hook. Dias misses a leg kick. Yuri lands a body kick and clinches, tries to take Dias down but ends up on the bottom. Shitty break. Dias working the body. Lands a decent elbow. Yuri goes for an armbar, looks pretty nasty, but Dias is out. He jumps back into Yuri’s guard. Yuri looks eerily relaxed down there. Someone needs to tell him he’s losing this fight. Dias passes to half guard. Yuri is back to his feet. Dias is having none of that and takes him down again. He’s in half guard, trying to pass to mount, but Yuri is hanging tough. Dias is dropping elbows, mostly being blocked. They get stood up for lack of action. Dias with a front kick. Yuri with a nice straight left, but he’s now down two rounds to none.
Round 3: Yuri looks like someone gave him a lude. He needs to get going. He lands a shot. Then misses a combo. Yuri lands a kick. Dias to the body in return, then hits a leg kick. Yuri misses with a huge bomb. Dias kicks the body, Yuri catches it and shrugs it off. Leg kick checked by Yuri. Dias has Yuri against the cage, scores another takedown. He peppering Yuri with little shots to the head. Yuri is up, and Dias plants him yet again. He’s in Yuri’s guard, and the crowd is getting restless. They get stood up again. Now with 40 seconds left, Yuri comes alive. He’s on top, in half guard, lands some decent shots. Too little too late, more than likely. We go to the judges.
Dias wins unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27.
Next up is Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Russow
Russow roles out to ‘Simple Man.’ Sweet.
While we have a minute, walkout music needs to be addressed. It pretty much sucks ass and is getting progressively worse. Why wouldn’t a guy come out to ‘Run to the Hills’ by Iron Maiden? That song makes me want to drop indiscriminant bombs on unsuspecting villagers. Some of these songs make me want to snuggle up on the couch with a Marcel Proust novel and a cup of hot cocoa. With marshmallows. I’m just waiting for someone to come out to Air Supply. Granted, one would be hard pressed to find a lovelier tune than ‘I’m All Outta Love,’ but you’re only supposed to listen to that shit in the confines of your car with the windows securely shut, like any decent person. This issue is imperative to the future of the sport and needs to be addressed at the next fighter summit.
Round 1: Herb Dean is the ref and we’re set to go. Russow charges forward with a couple short jabs. Werdum grabs Russow and delivers a knee. They clinch, and separate. Russow with a nice hook. Werdum with a huge leg kick, then a left to the face. He lands a right too. A big uppercut drops Russow, and Werdum commences to batter Russow’s head with hammer fists. Herb kindly steps in and halts the action.
Russow is a tough guy, but this is what happens when you match a part time fighter against a Top 10 heavyweight.
Werdum takes home a TKO victory at 2:28 of the first round.
Godofredo Pepev vs. Rony Mariano is up next.
Rony is crying on his way to the cage, wearing a Jason mask to boot. Very cool contrast of emotions.
See this is what I’m talking about. Fredo rolls out to Disturbed. Nice.
These cats are scrapping to be the featherweight TUF: Brazil winner. Mike Goldberg gives us a sociology lesson on humble beginnings and what winning this would mean.
Round 1: Fredo pushes forward with a right, clinches Rony against the cage. He delivers a knee. Rony answers with a knee of his own. Fredo charges again, has Rony against the cage. Fredo actually pulls guard. He’s looking for a Kimura. Rony is free. Fredo delivers a few punches to Rony’s back. Rony is just holding on for dear life. They get stood up. Rony misses a head kick by a mile, but lands a nice leg kick. Fredo jumps in and catches a flying knee to the grill. He then pulls guard again and lands a few elbows to the dome. Fredo is pretty active down there, but he ends the round on the bottom.
Round 2: Leg kick by Fredo. Rony with a jab to the body. And another. Fredo misses a high kick, but lands a left. Another body jab by Rony. Rony misses an overhand right, and they tie up. Fredo pulls guard again. Rony finally realizes he’s allowed to strike from top position, lands an elbow. Fredo is up. Fredo charges forward wildly, and eats a coupe shots for his effort. Rony lands a nice left. Fredo with a leg kick. Rony kicks to the body, Fredo catches it and throws him off. Fredo lands a left hook, and a jab. Rony with a nice overhand right. Fredo misses a spinning back fist. Damn, Rony misses a wheel kick to end the round.
Round 3: Fredo kicks high, Rony blocks. Rony lands a huge right, rocks Fredo. They’re clinched against the cage, now they separate. Fredo misses another spinning backfist by a mile. Wild exchange by both guys. Rony lands a straight right. Fredo kicks Rony in the jimmy. Rony is nursing his jewels, and we’re all set to go again. Jab by Fredo. Big shot from Rony, misses with a flying knee. Fredo going for a takedown, decides to just pull guard again, and why not, it’s worked out so well for him thus far. Rony is kicking Fredo’s legs, refuses to jump into guard again. Now they’re up. Inside leg kick from Fredo. Rony misses a wild left, then lands a right. He gets hit in the pills again. Rony’s looking pretty miserable. And we’re back. Spinning kick glances Rony’s ribs. Rony goes for a takedown to end the round, fails, and they keep going after the bell for some reason.
Rony wins a unanimous decision, 29-28 across the board.
Cezar Ferreira vs. Sergio Moraes are on deck for the middleweight TUF crown.
Sergio dances into the cage with some of the tightest shorts of all time.
Round 1: They touch and it’s on. Sergio charges and swings wildly. Cezar lands a Capoeira kick. He grabs Sergio by the back of the head and punches him in the face. Cezar lands a knee to the body. Sergio misses another wild hook. Body kick by Sergio. Then a leg kick. Cezar with an overhand left. Cezar charges in, Sergio backs him up with a big right. Elbow by Sergio. Cezar kicks Sergio in the pills. DAMN, the replay shows directly to the pills. That had to suck. And he’s ready to go. Sergio swings wildly again, blocked by Cezar. Wild exchange by both guys, Sergio gets the better of it. Cezar with a front kick, and a high kick that’s blocked. That’s the round.
Round 2: Sergio has a weird half smile on his face, and we’re set to go again. Cezar lands a left. Sergio tries to pull guard. Cezar drops Sergio. Lands a wheel kick, drops Sergio again, and lets him up. Cezar misses a high kick. So does Sergio. Sergio shoots, gets easily stuffed. Cezar with an overhand right, comes up short on a flying knee. The crowd chants. Goldy informs us that it’s “something in Portuguese.” Cezar with a kick to the body. Sergio is battering Cezar with wild punches. Cezar fights back with a few of his own. This just got a hell of a lot better. Goldy fucks it up as usual by comparing it to Forrest/Stephan. The round closes with the crowd going nuts.
Round 3: They embrace to start the third. Front kick to the body by Cezar. He drops Sergio with an uppercut, and let’s him up. Cezar is terrified to go to the ground with Sergio, second time he let him up. Cezar misses a kick, as does Sergio. Now Sergio lands one to the body. Cezar barely brushes Sergio with a pair of front kicks. Sergio lands a straight right that stuns Cezar. Cezar whiffs an overhand left. Cezar charges forward, misses. Sergio tags Cezar. They aren’t really throwing much. Cezar is hesitant, then drops Sergio with a straight left. He’s kicking the legs, still will not jump on top of Sergio. The round ends with a tough decision for the judges.
Cezar wins a unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27. and 30-27 to become the middleweight TUF winner.
Rogan tells Cezar he’s the first Ultimate Fighter winner. That would be cool if there weren’t already about 90 seasons in the books.
And the main event is next. Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
Rich gets a raw deal. He’s mocked as a ‘company man,’ as Dana White’s boy. But I gots to imagine being D. White’s boy comes with some sweet bennies. Rich makes that long dough, and word has it he only has to caddy when Dana AND Lorenzzohit the greens, so that aint that bad. Plus they know Rich is always going to come in-shape, win or lose he always fights his guts out, and this cat will have a black eye, which the medical community is at a loss to explain.
Hey, some things are just unexplainable in this life: JFK assassination, Loch Ness Monster, how Heidi Klum spent all those years married to that ugly mother fucker Seal, and how in the name of all that is holy Rich Franklin has had a Goddamn black eye for the past six years.
Anyway, considering their limited options, the UFC must be given credit for finding Wandy a suitable replacement, even if it is a rematch. At a catchweight. With absolutely no divisional relevance whatsoever. The only better option would have been to get Wandy’s plastic surgeon in the cage with him so he could get some revenge on that bastard for doing whateverthefuck weird thing he did to Wandy’s face that makes him look like a serial killer from the Dagobah system. And to further expound on that topic, I never in a million years thought I’d say this, but Wandy’s opponent actually looks creepier than he does. What is with Rich’s hair? Midlife crisis? Lost a bet? He should just buy a Vet already and be done with it. No need to go around at Rich’s age looking like a soft ass teenage boy who wears Capris and flip flops.
Damn, Rich rolls out to some AC/DC, but he’s wearing some pink ass shorts, small ones too. Weird.
Wandy comes out to some fist pump shit, looking real intense though.
I’m having an extremely difficult time focusing on my duties what with Rich’s hair n’ all. That must be the point though. It must be a tactical move. There’s just no other explanation as to why someone would choose to walk around looking like that. This is war, god dammit, and hilarious distractions are part of the mutha fuckin’ competition. That was Sun Tzu, if I’m not mistaken. We must never forget what the late, great Patrice O’Neal said about African rebels, how they fight wearing “sweat pants and tuxedo shoes.” You think that’s just cause they lack uniform funds? Sheeeeeeeeeeeet. That’s strategy, cuz. They know you look at em laughing your ass off, with their sweat pants, dress shoes, UNLV t-shirts and pink Yankee caps. But then they start machete hacking your fucking arms off and you know they aint playin’. Then it’s too late. It’s no different than Rich’s Dumb and Dumber hairdo.
Round 1: Wandy opens up with a kick to the legs. Rich throws a kick, gets blasted in the face. Wandy lands a left. Rich with a straight left, and again,. Rich with a jab. High kick by Wandy, caught by Rich. Rich lands a short hook, stuns Wandy. Rich with another good shot. Rich with a nice punch kick combo. Jab by Rich. Wandy fires back with a right. Rich with a body kick. Wandy lands a kick to the face. Another, blocked by Rich though. Rich lands a couple shots. Rich with a high kick of his own, and round 1 is in the books.
Round 2: Wandy skims a right, lands a leg kick, then falls. They trade big misses. Wandy goes upstairs, Rich gets out of the way. Rich with a nice shot to the head. Rich unloads with a few. And again. Wandy jabs. Wandy misses, Rich lands to the body. Wandy lands to the head. Rich goes to the body again, and to the head. He’s picking Wandy apart. Wandy strikes back though, lands a couple hooks, rocks Rich, OH MY GOD and knocks Franklin on his ass, swarming on him. Rich grabs a leg, and is barely surviving. Wandy is kicking his ass! WOW, Franklin survives the round, but he’s looking rough.
Round 3: Franklin looks OK, but he took a whooping. Let’s see how he holds up here. Rich kicks to the body. Now he punches to the body. Wandy with a head kick, blocked. Rich is jabbing away. Rich lands a solid kick to Wandy’s ribs. Rich just keeps sticking that jab out there. Wandy isn’t throwing anything. Another body kick by Franklin. Straight left by Rich. Wandy with a nice jab, and answered with another body kick. Rich with a pair of straight lefts, then scores a takedown. Franklin moves to half guard, and is delivering some nice elbows and punches to close out the round.
Round 4: Wandy jumps in, misses a hook. Rich misses a shot, Wandy connects with a short hook. Rich goes to the body again. Rich jabs, then connects with a straight left. And another. Then a right hook. Wandy looks rough. Hard shot to the body. Rich is just standing on the outside and jabbing Wandy to death. Oof, Rich takes a nasty one to the sack. That’s what you get for wearing those tiny pink shorts though. Rich looks recovered and here we go. Rich lands a shot, Wandy answers back. Another jab by Rich. Wandy with a left to the grill. And a right. Rich sticks a straight left. Wandy tags Rich to end the round.
Round 5: Nice bro hug to start things off. And Wandy blocks a jab with his forehead. Wandy kicks high, Rich isn’t there to eat it. Another jab by Rich. Wandy with a nice left hook. Rich is jabbing away. Wandy wades in with a knee, eats a shot for it. Another jab. Rich lands a left. Franklin is dancing around, jabbing away. Not a whole lot happening in this final round. Wandy gets in his face, looking to end hard, lands a huge right. And another. And another. This is the tsunami we’ve been waiting for. Thanks for waiting until the end of the fight, Wandy. Silva swarming, Franklin ends the round by knocking Wandy down with a short shot. Rich should take this decision.
Rich Franklin takes the unanimous decision with 49-46 across the board.
The translations are killing me. Bascially, Rich showed off his Portuguese, and Wandy fights for the people.
That’s it people, thanks for getting your chill on with me. We’ll be back tomorrow to analyze this shit.
During the second fight of the UFC 147 preliminary card streamed live on Facebook Saturday night, two fighters from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil took to the cage. It’s clear that TUF: Brazil has been a major hit for the UFC, with solid competitio…
During the second fight of the UFC 147 preliminary card streamed live on Facebook Saturday night, two fighters from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil took to the cage. It’s clear that TUF: Brazil has been a major hit for the UFC, with solid competition from legitimate contenders on the show.
Marcos Vinicius Borges Pancini (who also goes by just Marcos Vinicius) and Wagner Campos are both Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belts, so it wasn’t clear whether this would end up being a ground war or striking battle. Throughout the first two rounds, the fight took place both on the feet and on the ground. Campos was able to utilize better BJJ—including dropping Vinicius when he threw a flying knee that left him exposed.
However, the fight was finished on the feet during the third round, with Vinicius able to land a couple of knees to the body. Once Campos was backed up against the cage following the knees, Vinicius was able to land several hard punches that forced referee Herb Dean to step in and save the stunned Campos.
The fight marks Vinicius’ 20th professional win, and all of them have come via stoppage.
What Fans Will Remember From This Fight
Campos’ high-level BJJ skills set him up for success on the ground, but he was unable to finish the head-arm choke in the first round. Meanwhile, Vinicius was able to actually land upkicks and some hammerfists from his back, cutting Campos open, and did what he had to do to survive on the ground.
Vinicius did enough to survive until the third round, where he suddenly decided to go for broke, and threw another flying knee. This time the flying knee landed on the body, and he was able to follow up with another knee and a quick barrage of strikes.
What We Learned About Marcos Vinicius
He’s a BJJ black belt able to grapple with the best of them, as he prevented Campos from ending the fight via submission or ground-and-pound. Entering the third round, he knew he was down in the fight, and came out firing.
I like fighters that understand they need to get after it, and promptly decide that it’s time to fight back. Vinicius is well-rounded, but will still need to work on his striking and wrestling if he hopes to progress through the UFC’s featherweight ranks.
What We Learned About Wagner Campos
Campos was able to control Vinicius on the ground, easily passing the Brazilian fighter’s guard. However, he was unable to finish any submission attempts, and couldn’t utilize ground-and-pound to cause major damage on Vinicius. I’m curious why he was unable to finish the choke during the first round, as it almost looked like he decided to let Vinicius out of it.
He’ll still be able to put most fighters in serious trouble if he can drag it down to the mat, but he seemed to lack a killer instinct required to propel him to the top of the division.
What’s Next For Marcos Vinicius
Get him back into the cage as soon as possible, as he’s 32 years old and may not have a lengthy future ahead of him in the UFC Octagon. Whenever the UFC decides to head back to Brazil, making sure Vinicius is on the card could lead to some great featherweight matchups.
I think a fight against someone like Bart Palaszewski could be fun—Palaszewski is absolutely willing to bring it in the cage, and he would give us a better idea of where Vinicius stands in the UFC featherweight division. If they want to keep him against a Brazilian, perhaps a fight against Hugo Viana would be an ideal matchup.
What’s Next For Wagner Campos
Get back into the gym and work more on his standup defense, as his grappling skills are already at a high level.
Match him up against another one of the TUF: Brazil featherweights, as it’s difficult to see where Campos really stands in the featherweight division. Honestly, I think it’ll depend on who is available to fight, and on what card, as we will have to wait and see how things shape up later this summer.
If not, I’d like to see him fight Mark Hominick, only because I’m curious if Hominick can keep the fight standing and try to turn it into a slugfest.
Erstwhile PRIDE wrecking machine and current Ultimate Fighting Championship resident Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva has called Chael Sonnen a man with no balls and in the same breath labeled fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort a coward. From…
Erstwhile PRIDE wrecking machine and current Ultimate Fighting Championship resident Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva has called Chael Sonnen a man with no balls and in the same breath labeled fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort a coward.
[…] I opened the cage for [Chael] and he didn’t say anything. What kind of man is that? I know, actually, because he don’t have balls. He uses testosterone because he don’t have balls. This is his problem.
He don’t have balls, no? His balls don’t work (laughs). I have two big balls over here, you know? And I say for him and I say for everybody, no matter, I am a man. This is a lesson I took from my dad. A man can’t talk about another man because one day we are going to be face to face. In that day, you never know.
For a while now, there has been no love lost between the axe-wielding Brazilian and the overly vocal Oregon native—“Uncle Chael” has taken it upon himself to berate Silva at every given opportunity.
Conversely, Silva (34-11-1-1NC MMA, 3-4 UFC) more times than not has kept it schtum, but at one point he did threaten to kill the former NCAA Division-l standout.
[…] Man, everybody knows [that Belfort is a coward], not just me. Everyone knows that when the fight is going good for him, he’s a lion. But when the fight starts to go bad for him, he’s a lamb. We know that.
He’s a really, really good athlete. But everyone knows that his problem is in his head, not his body.
In 1998 Belfort and Silva—21 and 22 at the time and both fighting in their seventh professional bout—locked horns at UFC 94. The bout ended dramatically, with Silva on the receiving end of a brutal assault which lasted all but 44 seconds.
Both combatants, who were coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, were scheduled to throw hands at UFC 147, but due to Belfort’s incurring a broken hand, the match was canceled.
Instead, the main event will see Silva mix it up with former 185-pound champion Rich Franklin at a catch weight of 190 pounds.
