Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of the UFC’s Fight Night event from Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The event began with the main event bout between Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira, but injuries to both have led to a new fight altogether with Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders, the latter returning four-weeks since his last fight.
Below are the results from Saturday’s card:
Livia Souza def. Alex Chambers by mounted guillotine at 1:21 of Round 1 – Strawweight
The former Invicta FC strawweight champion made her UFC debut with a strong outing against the Australian Chambers. Souza found success immediately with her right hand that opened Chambers up to a flurry and was taken down. Souza worked fast to mount Chambers and apply a guillotine from the dominant position to secure her first UFC victory.
Souza locked in her third consecutive win while Chambers lost her third consecutive fight.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Luigi Vendramini by KO at 1:20 of Round 2 – Welterweight
dos Santos applied a Peruvian necktie early in the first round, worked for a better position with the hold but Vendramini escaped. As they returned to their feet, Vendramini took control of dos Santos’ back and worked for a rear-naked choke while peppering dos Santos with strikes. It was a close opening round that I leaned towards Vendramini for his control of dos Santos’ back and the strikes landed during his control period.
It was irrelevant how you scored the first round, as dos Santos lit up Vendramini with a flying knee in the second round and dropped the newcomer with a right hook for the knockout victory.
After losing his Octagon debut in May 2015, dos Santos has gone on a tear with six consecutive victories and shining a light on his welterweight campaign.
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Thales Leites def. Hector Lombard by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Middleweight
Hector Lombard won the first round, controlling the round with inside leg kicks that caused a large hematoma to form around the left knee of Leites.
Lombard’s pace couldn’t keep up in the second and third rounds as Leites threw his own inside leg kicks and cut Lombard open above the right eye. The striking advantage went the way of Leites in the final two frames with a commanding final round from the former middleweight title challenger as he won the final two rounds.
After 37 professional fights, Leites is retiring after this win and left his gloves inside the octagon following his 28th victory. Leites debuted in November 2003 and had his first stint with the UFC in November 2006, eventually challenging Anderson Silva for the middleweight title in April 2009. He left the UFC after back-to-back losses that year and returned in 2013 during an eight-fight win streak. Leites went 3-5 since July 2015 and goes out on a win.
This was the sixth consecutive loss for Hector Lombard, who doesn’t have a victory since March 2014.
Marya Bueno Silva def. Gillian Robertson by armbar at 4:55 of Round 1 – Flyweight
Silva won on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in August.
Robertson took her down and Silva scrambled to her feet and landed a hard elbow. Silva started firing off and connecting with the chin of Robertson. Robertson got another takedown and was riding out the round when Silva locked on an armbar from her back and Robertson tapped with five seconds remaining.
Silva injured her leg and could barely stand on it after the fight.
Sergio Moraes def. Ben Saunders by arm-triangle choke at 4:42 of Round 2 – Middleweight
Moraes had an unbelievable performance becoming the first to ever tap out Saunders, who has been fighting since May 2004.
This was a clinic from Moraes in a fight between two BJJ black belts.
In both rounds, the secured the takedown and worked his way to mount Saunders. In the first, he attempted an armbar in the dying seconds and the horn sounded. In the second, he got the takedown right away and mounted quickly. This time, he went for a head-and-arm choke and had it tight in the final seconds for the submission.
This is the eighth win of Moraes’ UFC career as the Sao Paulo native improves to 14-3-1. He has won eight of his last ten fights going back to October 2012.
Augusto Sakai def. Chase Sherman by TKO at 4:03 of Round 3 – Heavyweight
They fought close in the first round with Sherman gaining the edge in the round with his work against the fence and landing with a big elbow.
Sakai had a better second round, after getting off the fence he connected with a right hand over the top, a left-right combo and an uppercut for his best sequence so far. The striking of Sakai in the final minutes evened the fight on my card.
In the third, Sakai unloaded on Sherman as he cut him under the left eye and the fatigued Sherman tried to last the round. Sakai hit several big knees to the face and Sherman went to the canvas. Sakai dropped elbows and hammer fists from side control as the fight was finally stopped and Sherman took a beating in the final round.
This was Sakai’s official UFC debut after winning on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in August.
Sherman has lost his last three fights in the UFC. Sakai improves to 12-1-1.
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Ryan Spann def. Luis Henrique by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Light Heavyweight
Spann hasn’t got out of the first round in his last six fights. Henrique had been fighting at heavyweight since joining the UFC in 2015 and returned to light heavyweight in this fight.
In the first round, Spann was using his reach well to connect with jabs throughout the round.
The second round saw Henrique land several takedowns and threaten with a guillotine, but Spann was free. Spann mounted him at the end and landed some strikes, but I still had the round for Henrique and even going into the third.
In the third, both were exhausted, but Spann got a reversal and remained in half-guard throughout the duration. The key blow was an elbow that cut open Henrique’s head and Spann won the final round.
Spann has won five straight and is now 15-5.
Francisco Trinaldo def. Evan Dunham by KO at 4:10 of Round 2 – Lightweight
Trinaldo was landing with counters throughout the first round and blocked a takedown from Dunham. The first round was clearly Trinaldo’s.
In the second, each was connecting but Trinaldo landed a huge head kick that Dunham absorbed. Trinaldo moved forward with a powerful knee to the liver that dropped Dunham and it was over. Dunham was in significant pain from the shot.
Trinaldo stated he wants to fight Kevin Lee next.
This was Dunham’s retirement fight after an 11-year career with close to a decade fighting for the UFC.
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Charles Oliveira def. Christos Giagos by rear-naked choke at 3:22 of Round 2 – Lightweight
The first round was close but Oliveira’s takedown and move to mount was the most significant portion of the round. Giagos circles on the outside and did land on a strong pace.
Oliveira ducked a shot and took down Giagos in the second, he immediately took the back and locked on the rear-naked choke for the tap.
This was Oliveira’s 11th submission in the UFC and is the sole record holder in UFC history, surpassing Royce Gracie.
Oliveira said he wants to move back to featherweight after this fight.
Randa Markos and Marina Rodriguez fought to a Majority Draw (29-28 Markos, 28-28, 28-28) – Flyweight
I scored the fight 28-28 the same as two of the judges did.
Markos dominated the first round with a takedown into mount and smothered her throughout the round while also out landing Rodriguez by a wide margin. The damage was not overwhelming, and it was a borderline 10-8, but with the new ABC rules, this met the criteria.
Markos decided to stand with Rodriguez in the second despite her corner calling for takedowns and wasn’t a wise choice. Rodriguez got her striking game going in this round and cracked Markos with an elbow in the second. I thought Rodriguez won the second.
The third round was a very good round for Rodriguez, who connected with a head kick and follow up front kick to the face. Markos did get the takedown, but this time Rodriguez revered and scrambled back to her feet. Rodriguez connected with two knees from the Thai clinch and won the round.
Andre Ewell def. Renan Barao by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Catchweight 141.6 pounds
Barao missed weight by a huge amount coming in at 141.75 pounds for a bantamweight fight, which was just ridiculous and shouldn’t be fighting at this weight class anymore.
Barao was dropped in the first but recovered but taking Ewell down and mounting him. Barao attempted an armbar and couldn’t lock it in. This was a solid round for Barao.
This was similar with the performance from Randa Markos with a takedown in the first and they opted to stand in the second round. This led to Ewell getting his southpaw offense taking over and was landing lots of strikes to Barao. Barao did get a takedown late in the round, but it was too late.
Barao had nothing left in the third round, he was a sitting duck for the left hands from Ewell, who connected consistently throughout the final round. This was a tough fight for Barao and I thought he clearly lost.
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Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Sam Alvey by KO at 1:00 of Round 2 – Light Heavyweight
This was Nogueira’s first fight since November 2016 and is now 42-years old. He was cleared of a USADA violation when the substance discovered in his system was proven to be from a legitimately tainted supplement from a pharmacy in Brazil.
The first round was not an entertaining round. The southpaw Alvey landed with more strikes, although Nogueira was attempting to counter and was successful in spots.
Nogueira started throwing more in the second, Alvey was backing up and got dropped against the cage. Alvey attempted a single-leg after Marc Goddard waived off the fight, but it appeared to be the right call and Alvey was rocked from the strikes.
Nogueira’s stoppage victory received a huge ovation from the Sao Paulo crowd.
Alex Oliveira def. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. by KO at 0:39 of Round 1 – Welterweight
Pedersoli is an Italian-based fighter who had won eight straight and was replacing Neil Magny in this fight.
Pedersoli had a karate stance and entered with a sidekick, he left himself open from the kick and ate a short right that stunned him. Oliveira pounced with follow up shots and stopped him immediately.
This was Oliveira’s third win in his last four fights and second straight after submitting Carlos Condit earlier this year.
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Thiago Santos def. Eryk Anders by TKO at 5:00 of Round 3 – Light Heavyweight
This turned into a very good fight, but it was clear that Anders taking this fight on short notice was going to be costly as the fight wore on.
The first round saw a lot of clinching and each battling for control. Santos began firing off with left hands and took the round.
Santos began the second very aggressively and Anders ate a lot of strikes. Anders tried to lure Santos into his guard and he obliged with ground and pound strikes brought Anders’ way.
Anders was able to secure several takedowns in the fight, including at the start of the third after connecting with a straight left hand. Santos got back to his feet and rocked Anders with a left and began firing away. Anders got him down again, this time Santos got up against the fence and began landing huge elbows to the side of the head. Anders was holding on until the round ended but was damaged badly from the elbows.
Anders collapsed several times attempting to walk to his corner and referee Marc Goddard waived it off between rounds.
Anders fought hard, but he was limited with conditioning and could not eat the steady stream of strikes from Santos throughout the fight with the elbows at the end shutting Anders down.
Santos has won six of his last seven fights and will likely return to middleweight after this fight. He was coming up in weight because Jimi Manuwa needed a replacement opponent and then Manuwa fell out last week.
