UFC 226: Borrachinha and Assunção win, but Durinho is defeated on the preliminary card

Borrachinha (left) beats Hall. Photo: Reproduction / Twitter UFC

If the Brazilian team lost 2-1 in the football World Cup, at UFC 226 Brazilian athletes returned the same score against foreign athletes. With three representatives on the preliminary card of the event that takes place this Saturday (07), in Las Vegas, Paulo borrachinha e Raphael Assunção left the octagon with their arms raised, while Gilbert Durinho was overcome in the second fight of the show.

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Borrachinha was not aware of Uriah Hall and knocked out 'Ambulance Man' in the second round. Assunção has a safe fight, he dominated Rob font and won a unanimous decision. On the other hand, Durinho succumbed by knockout against Dan Hooker

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Borrachinha passes the car to 'Ambulance Man'

In a clash of knockout artists, Paulo borrachinha got the better of the Jamaican Uriah Hall. The Minas Gerais native achieved his 11th knockout of his career this evening and remains undefeated in professional MMA. With the triumph, he should leave tenth place in the middleweight rankings and be among the best.

The first round of the clash began with Borrachinha trying to close the distance, while Hall connected with some straight jabs that made the Brazilian's nose bleed. The miner enters with a right to Uriah's face and the fight heats up. The Brazilian lands a low kick on his opponent and thus stops the fight. The fight resumes, the Jamaican tries a round kick that hits Paulo's chest. Borrachinha pulls Hall into the clinch and tries to finish the fight. The Brazilian gains control over Uriah by connecting several blows. Again, Paulo hits a low blow and the Jamaican complains. The duel has a new stop. The judge warns that if there is a new illegal blow he will take points from the Brazilian.

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Both fighters start the second round attacking the opponent with a lot of jabs. The Brazilian lands a straight shot to his opponent's face, who takes advantage of the opportunity to apply a takedown and tries to put the fight on the ground. Hall hits an uppercut on the Brazilian who falls to the ground, with the advantage the Jamaican tries a sequence of blows, but fails. Borrachinha seeks recovery and quickly returns to the fight with a left cross to the face of his opponent who loses his balance. The Brazilian attack continues with a good sequence of punches. Hall, already dizzy, can no longer defend himself, goes to the ground and Borrachinha wins by technical knockout.

Assunção wins and asks for a bantamweight belt fight

Assunção (right) beats Font at UFC 226. Photo: Reproduction / Twitter ufc_brasil

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Raphael Assunção was the second Brazilian athlete selected to enter the preliminary card of UFC 226. In the bantamweight division, the Brazilian dominated the Puerto Rican Rob font in the three rounds and won by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). After the victory, the Pernambuco top 3 in the category asked the president of Ultimate, Dana White, for a title fight.

“I feel like I’m the most consistent fighter in my division and in the UFC. I'm very professional. What else do I need to do, Dana? Do I have to scream in your ear? Go crazy out there? I want the belt. I'm not knocking out and submitting all my opponents, but I'm winning. What else do I need to do? I've already beaten everyone. My hand, my brother… they are all going crazy about this”, said Assunção.

Assunção begins the first round by studying his opponent, trying to find the correct distance. The fighters look for openings to land blows, but both are very offensive. The Puerto Rican tries side kicks towards the head of the defending Brazilian. Raphael tries to connect blows to the opponent's face, which he returns with kicks to the waistline. The Pernambuco native manages to hit Font on the chin and he falls to the ground. In the end, Rob defends himself and tries a flying knee.

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Raphael puts the fight down in the first moments of the second round. The Brazilian tries to work on his jiu-jitsu, tries to pass the guard behind the back of the opponent who tries to defend himself. Strategically, Assunção manages to turn around and tries to land punches on Font's face. Rapha tries to crush the Puerto Rican, but he manages to escape and puts the fight on its feet. The Pernambuco native lands good blows on his opponent who seems tired after the first few minutes of the ground fight. Assunção manages to land good blows on Rob's face.

The last five minutes of the clash begin with Font's blows to the face of the Brazilian who has his guard up. Raphael lands a low kick that takes away the opponent's base. He loses his balance and falls into the octagon, but soon gets up. The Pernambuco native connects two round kicks and manages to get into his opponent's guard. The fight is stopped because Rapha hits Rob in the eye. As the fight resumes, Assunção attacks the Puerto Rican's waist and puts the duel on the ground again. On top, the Brazilian controls the fight on the ground and his opponent uses the fence to try to get up. Raphael works on his jiu-jitsu and shows his superiority on the ground.

Gilbert Durinho loses by knockout

Gilbert Durinho began Brazilian participation on the UFC 226 card. He faced Dan Hooker, but he was very 'thirsty for the pot' and was knocked out at 2m28s of R1 with a knee to the face and a left cross. With the triumph, the New Zealander achieves his fourth consecutive victory, while the Brazilian breaks a sequence of two victories.

The Rio native entered the fight confidently to the sound of the song Nosso Sonho by Claudinho and Buchecha. Durinho went all out in the first few seconds with low kicks to his opponent's calf. Then he landed a right blow to Hooker's face. In response, the New Zealander threw low kicks, but the Brazilian returned with a series of punches.

With a turnaround, Hooker begins to find the distance and manages to land a blow on the Brazilian's chin who loses his balance. So, Durinho goes to the ground and the New Zealander falls on top and tries to finish. The carioca manages to come out and put the fight on. Soon after, Dan lands a knee to Burns' face and a left cross. Durinho falls to the ground and his opponent falls on top and ends the fight with a knockout at 2m28s.