...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief UFC FIGHT NIGHT 77
NOVEMBER 7, 2015
LIVE FROM SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
The UFC returns to Brazil tonight with a 13-fight card, kicking off with the UFC Fight Pass prelims at 6:30PM ET. We'll have quick results and commentary on those first three bouts, with live round by round coverage of the televised bouts on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 8PM ET. Make sure to tune in here tonight to follow along!
=====UFC Fight Pass Prelims Quick Results=====
-Matheu Nicolau def. Bruno Korea via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:27 of the third round
Note: Nicolau scored a nice knockdown early in the final round and worked well from the top. He found the submission at an awkward angle from half guard essentially to score the finish. Decent fight.
-Jimmie Rivera def. Pedro Munhoz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Note: Hell of a fight. Second round was nuts with both guys rocking one another with significant strikes. Surprising it went the distance with how much damage was done to both during the bout. Really fun fight, though, and Munhoz doesn't lose a whole lot despite the defeat.
Note: Not much to this fight overall. Andrade did more throughout, but there just wasn't a lot of entertaining action during its 15-minute duration.
=====Fox Sports 1 Prelims=====
As Jon Anik and Brian Stann open up the broadcast, we've got our first fighters already in the cage! Fantastic, right to fights!
PRELIM FIGHT ONE: KEVIN SOUZA VS. CHAS SKELLY (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Souza ducked down low in his stance to prep for a potential shot. Skelly threw out a kick. He shot in for a single leg and drove Souza to the cage. Souza held it off on the cage well. Skelly nearly got him down, but Souza defended well. Skelly then pulled him to the center and scored a nice trip to bring it to the ground. Skelly passed well to half guard. The crowd got a bit restless and weren't thrilled with Skelly on top. Souza tried to escape, but Skelly got to side control in a nice pass to the other side. He landed a couple of hard elbows and Souza got cut open. Souza grabbed for a D'Arce that he then turned into a bit of a gator roll and anaconda choke. Skelly lost it as the blood actually made him slicker there. Back on the feet, they traded punches, and Souza knocked Skelly down with a left hook! Ridiculous turn of events. Skelly went for a kneebar, but Souza defended against the cage. Skelly went for the heel hook, but they both worked to their feet. Souza rushed in late with a strike but he missed.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Skelly. Really tough to score with that knockdown, but Skelly controlled so much of the round and nearly finished it himself with that choke. Good action in this one so far.
ROUND TWO: Skelly shot in almost immediately, but wound up on his back. Souza landed some heavy ground and pound, then Skelly tried to grab another leg lock. Souza defended and eventually stepped out, forcing Skelly up. Skelly looks a bit tired at the moment, and he was having real trouble throwing strikes. He shot in and took Souza's back standing. He rolled off the fence and got Souza to the ground. He only got one hook in, but he locked on an extremely tight choke and Souza had to tap just before he went out cold. Skelly may have injured his knee on that takedown after kicking off the cage, and he winced as one of his cornerman came in and picked him up.
WINNER: Skelly via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:56 of the second round
STAR RATING: (***) That exchange in the first round, going from Skelly nearly securing the choke to Souza knocking him down, was insane, and Skelly looked gassed badly in the second. Still, he got Souza's back standing, kicked off the cage nicely, and forced the tap with an absolutely nasty choke that had such pressure that anyone would have tapped to it.
-He thinks he broke a bone in his foot, so not a knee injury.
PRELIM FIGHT TWO: CLAY GUIDA VS. THIAGO TAVARES (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Tavares landed a couple of strikes quick. Guida tagged him with a few jabs and shot in. Tavares caught him in a guillotine! Guida tried to escape but Tavares got it on even tighter and forced the tap! Fantastic submission from Tavares.
WINNER: Tavares via submission (guillotine choke) at :39 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***) About as good as it gets in a fight lasting 39 seconds. Guida's attempt to do what he always does backfired, and Tavares caught him in a perfectly applied guillotine choke. Tavares says he has the best jiu jitsu in the featherweight division. He just might.
-With time to kill as this is a prelim broadcast, we got some analysis back in the studio from Kenny Florian and Yves Edwards.
PRELIM FIGHT THREE: JOHNNY CASE VS. YAN CABRAL (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Case landed the first significant strike with a left as Cabral tried to step in. Case stuffed a takedown attempt, but Cabral pulled guard. He tried to attack for a triangle, but Case escaped, landed a strike, and stepped out to make Cabral stand. Case landed a left hand. Case got in a solid kick to the body. Cabral shot in and went for a single leg. Case landed several strikes, but Cabral managed to get him to the ground. He passed over to half guard but Case pulled off a fantastic reversal to get on top. Cabral scrambled from the bottom and got back on top himself. Cabral passed over to side control nicely and tried to move to mount. Case defended. Cabral attacked for a kimura. Cabral stepped over Case's head and tried to get the arm loose as Case held tight on his cup. Case escaped and scrambled to his feet, landing a combination to separate. He landed a nice knee as Cabral stepped in. Case tossed out a couple more strikes. Case landed a hard right hand late, and a couple of body kicks before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Cabral. Nice work on the ground, but Case wound up defending well to avoid what could have been a fight-ending kimura.
ROUND TWO: Case moved forward and landed some solid kicks to open up the offense in the round. Cabral went for a spinning elbow and Case gave him a smile for the attempt. Case landed a nice left hand off a kick. Cabral caught a body kick and landed a strike. They traded punches in the center. Cabral landed a nice counter-right. Case got back in with a body kick, then a short combo. He landed a few hard strikes against the cage. He rocked Cabral with a big strike and Cabral stumbled down. He landed a few strikes, then dropped on top as his corner yelled at him to make Cabral stand. Case stood and made Cabral get up. Cabral slipped but popped back up. Case landed a hard kick to teh body. Case tossed out some kicks. He landed a right hand. Case landed a couple jabs, then shrugged off a takedown attempt. Cabral looked at the clock with over a minute left. Case landed a body kick. Cabral said he got poked in the eye, but Herb Dean told him to fight. Case landed a hard left as he backed Cabral up. He stayed a little tentative, just making sure not to open himself up for anything. Case landed a nice left hand. He walked him down to the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Case. A bit too tentative down the stretch given he had Cabral hurt there and is clearly better on the feet, but he didn't want to give him any opening for a takedown.
ROUND THREE: Case swung and missed early on. He connected on a combination shortly after. Cabral shot for a single leg, but Case kept himself up at the cage. Cabral stayed on him and dragged him down. Cabral nearly had his back, but Case turned back in, kicked Cabral off, and got to his feet. Cabral stayed on his back standing and tried to drag him down again. Case tried to use the cage to get free as Cabral took his back. Cabral locked on a body triangle and attacked for the choke. Case tried to defend. No urgency from Case to escape and he could be giving away a decision here. He finally turned into Cabral and had just over a minute to work. He landed a few strikes, avoided an arm attack, and got into half guard. Case landed some hard strikes, and he took Cabral's back. He landed more strikes as Cabral got back to his feet. He unleashed several strikes late that bloodied Cabral's face but Cabral stood with his arms raised at the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Cabral. I wouldn't entirely have a problem with Case taking the round, but I'm not sure that final minute trumps the positional control he handed Cabral for the previous three and a half. He may have just given that one away.
WINNER: Case via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Legitimately surprised that not one judge gave Cabral that third round. Case was the better fighter, but just did nothing after hurting Cabral badly in that second round, and that's kind of a disappointing performance overall from him.
PRELIM FIGHT FOUR: GLEISON TIBAU VS. ABEL TRUJILLO (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Tibau very early shot in and took Trujillo down, but the American got to his feet. Tibau stayed on the attempt as Trujillo landed a strike, and then attacked for a guillotine. Tibau got out and wound up mounting and then taking Trujillo's back. He muscled Trujillo back over as Trujillo tried to escape. Tibau was going for a choke, but seemed to lose it as the ref stepped in thinking his was out. Trujillo immediately protested, and that was a bad, bad stoppage.
WINNER: Tibau via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:45 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**) It was good work from Tibau, and he was closing in on a finish in some capacity, but yeah, that's just an awful stoppage by the referee. Tibau had lost the choke and was shifting back to mount, and the ref needed to do a better job finding out whether or not he was out. It looks worse and worse on replay.
-More time to kill, so it was back to Florian and Edwards to recap the prelims before heading to the main card.
=====Fox Sports 1 Main Card=====
After a brief reset, time to get this main card moving!
MAIN CARD FIGHT ONE: FABIO MALDONADO VS. COREY ANDERSON (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Anderson initially took the outside, though both engaged a bit early on. Anderson shot in a minute into the round and scored an easy takedown into half guard. Anderson landed some hard elbows from the top. He postured up to continue keeping pressure on. He trapped an arm, but then Maldonado used it to escape back to his feet. He tried to back Anderson up but ate an uppercut. Anderson tossed out a few kicks. He backed Maldonado to the cage and clinched. Anderson stayed on him at the cage, landing combinations, throwing a flying knee, and keeping the pressure on as Maldonado tried to goad him on to continue. Maldonado came back ahead, but Anderson got in some solid strikes in a center-cage clinch. Maldonado tried to back him up, but ate a few strikes and backed off. Anderson shot in again and scored another takedown. Maldonado gave up his back and turtled, and Anderson landed several strikes from that position. He got in a couple knees to the body and Maldonado stood at the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Anderson. Close to a 10-8, just not quite enough damage, but he had all the offense in that frame.
ROUND TWO: They traded some punches early. Maldonado cracked Anderson with a couple and drove him to the cage, but got turned around as Anderson looked for a takedown. Anderson finished the takedown, but Maldonado quickly moved back to his feet. The crowd booed Anderson a bit. He dragged Maldonado briefly to a knee, but Maldonado got back to his feet on the cage again. Maldonado threw a couple of body punches, but was stuck in defense. The crowd rained down their displeasure on the action, or lack thereof, some more. They traded clinch strikes, and then Anderson shot down again. Anderson finally backed off. Anderson landed a kick as Maldonado tried to get in close. Anderson landed a right hand. Maldonado got in a punch, but ate a hard knee to the body and another punch. Anderson then took him down into half guard in the center. Anderson wasn't really looking to improve position much. He did get in a hard elbow, but drastically slowed his output. Maldonado tried to escape, and finally got back to his feet. Maldonado got in a body punch, but ate a knee to the face late. Anderson clinched again before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Anderson. Dull fight. Very little actually happening at this point.
ROUND THREE: Anderson pressed in early. Maldonado got in a hard punch to the body in a clinch. He tossed out a short combination. Anderson shot back in and scored a takedown into side control. Maldonado rolled to his knees. He tried to stand up against the cage, but Anderson kept him down. Anderson wasn't doing a whole lot, and Maldonado got back up. Anderson backed off with a hard knee and a solid combination. He landed a few more strikes and then slowed it down. Anderson got in another knee. Anderson finally backed off. He came back in with a hard right hand and then shot in. He backed away again. Anderson pawed out a few strikes. He shot in again and took Anderson down. He ended the fight on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Anderson. He had a few spurts of improved striking instincts, but this won't shake any prior impressions of his overall fighting style.
WINNER: Anderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (*) Effective, as unappealing as it was for most of it. Just a mostly dull fight overall.
MAIN CARD FIGHT TWO: GILBERT BURNS VS. RASHID MAGOMEDOV (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Burns tried to walk Magomedov down early, but ate the first big strike with a counter-right hand. Burns landed a right hand and scored a real nice takedown into half guard up against the cage. Burns held a body lock as Magomedov tried to stand and he slammed him. Magomedov popped back to his feet, but Burns held the body lock against the cage. Magomedov finally got free after stepping out of a leg lock attempt Burns dropped for. Magomedov landed a solid combination. They traded punches in the center. Magomedov connected on a body kick. Burns landed a solid leg kick and tried to walk Magomedov down. Magomedov landed a couple of short combos as Burns tried to get in close. Burns missed a strike and ate a counter. Magomedov landed another big strike. Burns got in a hard kick. Magomedov landed a hard combination. He scored with another late just before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Magomedov. Burns started well, but Magomedov's striking took over in the last half of the round.
ROUND TWO: Magomedov landed a hard body kick. Burns got in a short combination. They traded kicks in the center a short time later. Burns shot in, but Magomedov stuffed it. Burns drove him to the cage in the clinch. Magomedov turned Burns around. Burns circled out. Burns threw an errant kick and got taken down. Magomedov landed a strike, then backed off to make Burns stand. Magomedov landed a hard strike that hurt Burns. Magomedov backed him up. They traded body kicks, then Magomedov dropped him with another big strike. He stood above him and made him stand. Burns was in bad shape and wobbly as he stood back up. Magomedov went high with a kick. Burns covered up and then tried to fire back. Magomedov landed another straight right that staggered Burns. He landed a punch to the body, then another to the head. He went high to the head. Magomedov's attack slowed down late. He landed a couple more, then barely missed a spinning kick at the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Magomedov. He's comfortably ahead here and doing damage, but left Burns in the fight by not finishing that off in the second.
ROUND THREE: Burns rushed in for a takedow, but got tossed to his back. Magomedov backed off and made him stand. Magomedov landed a hard counter-right as Burns missed. Burns threw out a kick to the body. Magomedov continued to land counter-punches as Burns sporadically got in close, but he wasn't pressing any type of pace. Burns got a body lock midway through the round, but Magomedov held off the attempt. Magomedov scored the takedown and immediately stepped out to make Burns stand. No urgency from Burns, little from Magomedov to do more than the bare minimum. Hurting the overall quality of the fight. He walked Burns down and landed a couple of strikes. They traded strikes late, and Burns got in a knee. Magomedov missed a spinning kick before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Magomedov. Dull finish, especially given how much Burns was rocked in the second round. Not a fight that's going to inspire a move up for Magomedov.
WINNER: Magomedov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Burns was fighting back tears as the decision was read and handed him his first career loss.
STAR RATING: (*) Magomedov did what he was expected to do on the feet, but it just wasn't all that great to watch for a majority of the fight.
MAIN CARD FIGHT THREE: ALEX OLIVEIRA VS. PIOTR HALLMANN (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: They opened immediately with a striking exchange. Oliveira landed a nice series of uppercuts in the center. He got the better of another exchange. Hallmann was already cut open 30 seconds in. Oliveira barely missed a couple strikes. He landed a nice combination after taking a leg kick. Hallmann tried to shoot but got shrugged off. Oliveira swung and missed on a few strikes. They clinched and he got in a hard knee. Hallmann tried to break loose but Oliveira got back on him. They jockeyed for position a bit. Hallmann held off a takedown attempt. Oliveira went for another, but it got stuffed. Oliveira got in some hard strikes with minimal space. Hallmann briefly got free but ate another strike, and had Oliveira right back on him. Oliveira backed off and missed some strikes. They traded back at the cage, with Oliveira getting the best of it. Oliveira landed a knee to the body with a short combo behind it. He landed a hard uppercut. He connected on several strikes before clinching again. Hallmann turned Oliveira around. They broke apart just before the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Oliveira. Big round for Oliveira. Close to 10-8. All him on offense, though it slowed down in several stretches.
ROUND TWO: They traded strikes wildly in the opening seconds. Oliveira got in several strikes in close before backing out. Hallmann caught a leg and took Oliveira down. The crowd quickly got on his case. Oliveira tried to set something up off his back, but Hallmann was scoring with strikes in his guard. Oliveira threw some elbows from the bottom. They were stood up with two and a half minutes left. Oliveira threw a couple strikes. Oliveira landed a nice combination. He just missed on an uppercut attempt. He tripped Hallmann up with a kick, then took his back. He tried to take the back, but jumped high and lost position, with Hallmann taking over in north-south. Mistake on Oliveira's part there. Oliveira got it to half guard. Hallmann landed a few elbows. He got some boos from the crowd, but rode out the round on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Hallmann. Oliveira slowed down, and let this fight become a lot closer than it should be right now.
ROUND THREE: Oliveira landed a few early strikes. He kept swinging wildly. Hallmann landed a counter. Oliveira then sent Hallmann tumbling with a right hand! He landed one more shot but Yamasaki stepped in. Man. Brutal one-punch KO. The wild winging punch found its home. That was a slow motion version of what Rich Franklin did to Nate Quarry ten years ago.
WINNER: Oliveira via KO at :51 of the third round
STAR RATING: (**+) Excellent highlight-reel finish after a bit of a bad round for Oliveira in the second. Still, he got another win, and he's now won three of four in the UFC in 2015 alone, and has four wins since February of this year. Good work there, and an excellently placed punch to send Hallmann down and out.
MAIN CARD FIGHT FOUR: THOMAS ALMEIDA VS. ANTHONY BIRCHAK (BANTAMWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Birchak looked to create angles early, circling around and landing a leg kick. Neither really landed much in the early going as they were trying to test out the range. Birchak shot in for a single leg, but Almeida backed him off. Birchak got in with a right, but Almeida scored with a counter. Birchak came straight ahead with a big combination with several strikes connecting. Almeida took it, then came back ahead and landed a hard right hand of his own. Almeida scored a takedown, but wound up on his back briefly after attacking for a sub. He scrambled up and landed a strike. Almeida connected on a right hand. He covered up as Birchak pressed in. The crowd was firmly in Almeida's corner. He landed a nice jab that popped Birchak's head back. Nice combination from Almeida. Almeida again scored with a few strikes. Birchak shot in late but got stuffed on the cage. Almeida turned him around and landed a body strike. Birchak got in a left as ALmeida backed out. Almeida rocked Birchak with a counter-right. He hurt him again with a left in a combination. He landed a spinning back elbow, then fired off a couple more and just floored Birchak with a right hand! Birchak dropped! Holy hell what a freaking knockout!
WINNER: Almeida via KO at 4:24 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***+) Thrilling. Absolutely thrilling work from the still undefeated Thomas Almeida, and up there with the best highlight-reel KOs we've seen in this sport. Just a sick finish against a tough fighter, and the 24-year-old Almeida continues to prove himself. He's well en route to title contention at this point, and it's time to see what he can do in an even more high profile spot.
MAIN CARD FIGHT FIVE: GLOVER TEIXEIRA VS. PATRICK CUMMINS (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Teixeira opened with a stiff jab. Cummins shot in and scored an early takedown, but Teixeira worked back to his feet. They traded a few strikes, then Cummins shot in again and scored another takedown. Teixeira once again immediately got up, though. Cummins backed off with a knee to the body. Cummins got in a couple of strikes. Teixeira landed a hard right hand. Teixeira landed a solid jab. He rocked Cummins with a combination. He missed a few strikes, but stayed on the attack. Cummins connected. Teixeira landed two hard jabs. Cummins shot in and clinched. He got Teixeira to the ground, but Teixeira easily got to his feet again. He rocked Cummins on the cage with an uppercut and another big right hand. Cummins landed a solid knee and some clinch strikes. Teixeira landed another combination. Cummins landed another takedown into half guard and slowed things down. Teixeira got back to his feet again after little damage on the ground. He landed an uppercut, then a jab. Cummins landed several uppercuts in close. Cummins got in a nice knee. Teixeira landed an awkward looking kick. He rocked Cummins again late with several big strikes but the horn sounded.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Teixeira. Despite the takedowns, almost all the most serious damage was done by Teixeira. Could be seen otherwise by these judges, though.
ROUND TWO: Teixeira immediately came forward and kept the pressure on. Cummins tried to shoot in, but Teixeira sprawled and worked up to his feet. He came back ahead with an uppercut. He landed several punches. He hurt Cummins badly with a few punches. Cummins was taking a ton of damage with the cage keeping him upright, and Herb Dean stepped in. Probably the right call.
WINNER: Teixeira via TKO at 1:12 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**+) Good work from Teixeira on the feet, though he let himself get taken down too often there. Regardless, he kept getting up, and it was clear he had the precision and power advantage on the feet. Good finish after some violent work from Teixeira.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT SIX: VITOR BELFORT VS. DAN HENDERSON (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Relatively tentative start, neither coming out overly aggressive. Henderson tossed out a couple leg kicks. Really slow start in the opening minute. Both waiting for the other to do something it seemed. The crowd started getting restless as almost nothing happened in the first two minutes. Belfort then rushed in with a head kick and got Henderson to the ground. He landed several strikes on the ground and the ref stepped in. Henderson again felt it was a quick stoppage, just like their last bout in Brazil, and Mario Yamasaki may have been a bit too eager to stop it. On replay, really not a fan of the stoppage, as Belfort landed only a couple of the strikes thrown on the ground, and Henderson was getting his bearings. Still, he's taken so much damage in his career, he was probably saved from something worse. Plus, he did kind of go limp for a second from the one that landed flush.
WINNER: Belfort via KO at 2:07 of the first round
STAR RATING: (*+) Dull opening followed by an extremely quick barrage. Just nothing much to it, not that many expected a ton from them at this point. Almost identical to their fight two years ago with the head kick and ground finish.
-Thanks for joining us here tonight, we'll have plenty of reaction throughout the week and more as we move on to UFC 193 from Melbourne next weekend on pay-per-view!
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
