UFC Fight Night 71: Yahya and 'Bate-Estaca' win on the preliminary card in San Diego

J. Andrade (photo) won on the UFC preliminary card. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

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The Brazilian fighters left the UFC Fight Night 71 preliminary card with a neutral balance, an event held on Wednesday night (15) in San Diego, in the North American state of California. Ildemar Marajó and Igor Araújo left the octagon defeated, but redemption came shortly after, with the victories of Rani Yaya and Jéssica “Bate-Estaca” Andrade.

In the second fight of the night, Marajó had a very apathetic performance and ended up being defeated by Kevin Casey; Araújo suffered great punishment and was dominated by Sean Strickland. Yahya got tired, but beat Masanori Kanehara in a warm fight, by the judges' decision. Finally, Andrade frustrated the game of Canadian Sarah Moras and, with a scare at the end aside, had a dominant performance.

The UFC FN 71 preliminary card also featured Lyman Good's victories over Andrew Craig and Sam Sicilia about Yaotzin Meza.

Check out how the fights went:

Marajó fights badly and loses again

The first Brazilian to enter the Octagon in San Diego did not have a good performance. Even with the support of renowned coach Greg Jackson (mentor of Jon Jones) in his corner, Ildemar Marajó had an apathetic performance and was no threat to Kevin Casey, who won in a lukewarm decision from the judges.

Little really relevant happened in the three rounds of competition. Marajó tried shy shots, but the North American walked forward most of the time, connecting some good blows with his hand. Furthermore, Casey made a difference by getting takedowns at crucial moments, although he was able to do little when he was on top.

After 15 minutes of (little) action, Casey was named the winner in a unanimous three-way decision 30-27. The American returns with victory after more than a year suspended for doping, while Marajó suffers his third defeat in the last five fights.

Araújo survives punishment, but is defeated

Araújo (right) was no match for Strickland (right). Photo: Disclosure

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The night in California was also not kind to Igor Araújo, who was largely dominated by Sean Strickland and suffered his second consecutive defeat in Ultimate.

The first round made it seem like the fight wouldn't last long. Strickland cornered the Brazilian on the fence while standing and threw several blows, including elbows, crosses and uppers. Araújo bent his knee several times and ended up falling, but the American, despite his aggressiveness, didn't finish the fight.

In the next two rounds, Strickland dominated practically all the actions, although he was not as effective as he was at the beginning. The Brazilian even tried to react, but used clumsy blows, especially “snake killers” in the wind.

In the end, Strickland won by unanimous decision from the judges, with two 30-27 and one 30-26. He wins again after defeat to Santiago Ponzinibbio in Porto Alegre; Araújo suffers his second consecutive setback in the Octagon.

Yahya defeats Japanese in warm fight

Yahya (right) won a warm fight against Kanehara (left). Photo: Disclosure

The first Brazilian to win at UFC Fight Night 71 was Rani Yaya, who defeated Masanori Kanehara via judges' decision. However, the fight did not please the fans in the gym, who booed immediately after the result was announced.

Yahya made his intention to take the fight to the ground clear from the beginning. In the first round this happened, although the Brazilian was unable to stabilize his position. After that, Kanehara scored more of Rani's takedown attempts, which made the fight more intense – as the Brazilian even engaged the takedown position, but was unable to finish.

Even though he was quite tired, Yahya continued walking forward, although the Japanese made good use of his greater wingspan at times. However, no fighter showed clear superiority in the 15 minutes of competition, which resulted in a close decision by the judges, in favor of the Brazilian in a split manner.

This was the second victory in a row for the Brazilian, who had beaten Johnny Bedford in Brasília, in September last year. Kanehara, in turn, loses after debuting with victory in the UFC in Japan, when he hit Alex Caceres.

Jéssica frustrates rival, gets scared, but wins

Jéssica (right) punished Moras (left) at the event. Photo: Disclosure

Jéssica “Bate-Estaca” Andrade took an important step towards the top of the women's bantamweight division by dominantly beating Sarah Moras in the penultimate fight of the preliminary card. The Brazilian frustrated the Canadian's game, defending her takedown attempts well and punishing her when she fell on top.

Moras had a plan to take down the Paraná native, but at no point did he come close to realizing his intentions. On the contrary: it was Jéssica who managed to fall on top. The Brazilian dominated the fight with ease on the scorecards, but almost saw everything go down the drain in the final moments. Jéssica made a mistake and saw Moras take her back, which almost ended in a rear naked choke. The blow seemed fair, but the Brazilian gestured and insisted that she was fine.

Thus, Andrade recovers from the defeat suffered in his last fight, reaching 4-2 inside the Octagon. Moras, in turn, suffers his first defeat in two fights in the UFC.

UFC FN 71 preliminary card results:

Sam Sicilia defeated Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision by the judges

Jessica Andrade defeated Sarah Moras via unanimous decision by the judges

Rani Yaya defeated Masanori Kanehara via split decision

Sean Strickland defeated Igor Araújo via unanimous decision by the judges

Kevin Casey defeated Ildemar Marajó via unanimous decision by the judges

Lyman Good defeated Andrew Craig via TKO in R2

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