CB Dollaway knocks out and Mutante and Maldonado put on a show at UFC Natal

Entitled to a show Fabio Maldonado and a quick knockout by CB Dollaway over the favorite Cezar Mutant, the UFC Fight Night 38 main card got off to a hot start. Before the main fight between Mauricio Shogun e Dan Henderson, the fights took over the Nelio Dias gym, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte.

CB Dollaway surprises Mutante

Winner of TUF Brasil 1 among middleweights, Cezar Mutant got his first defeat in the UFC. Facing CB Dollaway, the Brazilian started out ready to put on a show and soon went on the attack, unleashing his striking skills. Cezar threw several punches at his rival, but none of them landed. The North American waited for the best moment to counterattack and land a right punch on the Brazilian who was knocked to the canvas. Without wasting time, CB connected two more punches and forced the referee to end the fight in just 39 seconds.

TUF winners' duel ends in draw

Leo Santos and Norman Parke fought between TUF winners. But despite the great expectations, the duel was fought without great emotions.

The Brazilian started better, using his greater wingspan to control the actions in the stand-up fight. Even without being able to take the fight to the ground, which is his specialty, Leo seemed at ease in striking. However, in the second round Parke put strategy into play.

The Irishman worked his way into the clinch, pinning Santos against the bars. Without forceful blows, Norman tied up the duel and balanced the battle. But one action in the round could have taken away the victory. Parke caught Leo's shorts for a takedown and had a point deducted.

In the last round, losing on the cards, the Irishman repeated the recipe from the previous round and canceled the Brazilian's game. Without great emotions, the public booed the end of the fight.

In the end, the side judges scored a draw 29×27 (Leo), 28×28, 28×28.

Maldonado turns around and scores another victory

Fabio Maldonado raised the crowd in Natal. The Brazilian started at a disadvantage against Gian Villante, where the North American worked closely with the Brazilian and in search of the takedown. Maldonado, visibly uncomfortable underneath, tried to get up, but to no avail.

In the second half, however, the story of the fight began to change. The Brazilian avoided the takedown game and worked with good boxing combinations. Halfway through the round, Villante tried to take down the Brazilian, who defended himself, but exposed his face and ended up suffering a powerful knee. Despite a lot of blood, Fabio showed a lot of determination and started attacking his rival.

With morale in the fight, Maldonado continued with everything in the last round. With several combinations that ended on the face of Gian Villante, the Brazilian opens up an advantage. The North American was no longer able to take down the Brazilian and struggled to stay alive in the duel until the end of the fight.

At the end of 15 minutes of competition, victory for Fabio Maldonado of the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×27, 29×28). With the result, the Brazilian achieved his third consecutive victory in the UFC.

Check out the complete results from UFC Natal below

Main Card:

Dan Henderson derrotou Mauricio Shogun by knockout in R3;

CB Dollaway defeated  Cezar Mutant by knockout in R1;

Leo Santos x Norman Parke drew

Fabio Maldonado derrotou Gian Villante in the unanimous decision of the judges;

Michel Trator defeated Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision by the judges;

Ron Jason defeated Steven Siler via TKO in R1;

Preliminary Card

Thiago Marreta defeated Ronny Markes by knockout in R1;

Jussier formiga submitted Scott Jorgensen with a rear naked choke in R1;

Kenny Robertson submitted Thiago Bodão with a rear naked choke in R1;

Hans Stringer defeated Francimar Bodão via split decision

Geoffrey Pepey defeated Noad Lahat by knockout in R1;