Vinicius Pereira was defeated by Malik Basahel in the PFL x Bellator (Photo: Playback/YouTube)
The historic PFL x Bellator, which pits some of the main stars of the two events against each other, got off to a bad start for the Brazilians. In an amateur fight responsible for opening the preliminary card, Vinicius Morcego from Ceará ended up being defeated by Malik Basahel, an athlete from Saudi Arabia, in a unanimous decision by the judges.
At just 19 years old, Vinicius Pereira suffered his first defeat precisely on his international debut. 'Morcego', as the Ceará native is known, had won the five amateur fights he had in Brazilian MMA.
See too
Much more experienced than the Brazilian and fighting at home, Malik Basahel added the 18th victory to his amateur record, which also includes two defeats and a draw.
With no answers for Basahel's takedown game, Vinicius Pereira is defeated in PFL x Bellator
Vinicius Pereira started by changing bases and showing interesting foot movement, but Malik Basahel quickly entered the double leg and took the fight to the ground. The Brazilian managed to escape at first, but was knocked down again by the Saudi. Basahel moved to half guard and remained on top until the end of the first round.
Vinicius Pereira started the second round by closing the distance and grabbing Malik Basahel's waist. The Brazilian insisted and managed the takedown, already on the Saudi's back. Vinicius closed the padlock on the waist line. With a lot of effort, Basahel managed to reverse the position and ended the round with a lot of strikes from above.
Malik Basahel started the third round working on his striking, but quickly got into a takedown and managed to take Vinicius down. With his guard active, the Brazilian attacked the Saudi's leg and forced his opponent to get up, but received another takedown. In the final minute, Vinicius got up once again only to be knocked down again.
You need login To comment.