MMA fans had to change their routine this Saturday (10). Used to early morning events, fans woke up early to watch UFC on FUEL 6, a show that marked the organization's debut in China. The fight program featured three Brazilians in action and two of them left the octagon with victories. John Lineker beat Yasuhiro Urushitani and Thiago Silva finished Stanislav Nedkov. The only Brazilian setback was Paulo thiago, who was dominated by South Korean Dong Hyum Kim and lost in a unanimous decision by the judges. In the main fight of the night, the Vietnamese Cung le surprised the world and knocked out favorite Rich Franklin at the beginning of the first round.
Cung le surprises and knocks out Franklin
If there was a lack of a knockout in the eight preliminary fights of the event, those who waited until the main fight were not disappointed. Right at the beginning of the movements, Cung le, who was a huge underdog on the show, showed all the power and speed of his striking.
After Franklin tried a shot from the belt line, which went empty, Le responded quickly with a straight right. The blow took the former UFC champion to the canvas, and he was knocked out just over two minutes into the fight.
Visibly emotional, Le seemed not to believe in the triumph and celebrated the victory a lot. The middleweight proved to be the biggest win of his career.
turn, Thiago Silva finishes Nedkov
With the right to an upset in the last round, the Brazilian Thiago Silva made peace with winning the UFC. After being suspended for 12 months and losing on his return, the athlete from São Paulo put up a tight and balanced fight against the Bulgarian Stanislav Nedkov. After suffering a knockdown in the first round, the Brazilian managed to recover and finish the fight with a katagatame in the third round.
The dispute between the light heavyweights who specialize in striking started off as a heated affair. The Bulgarian avoided the open exchange of blows and tried to keep the Brazilian in the clinch, pinning him against the fence. Nedkov even managed to take down Thiago, who got up quickly, but was unable to gain the distance to unleash his game.
In the second round, the Brazilian was doing better, avoiding his opponent's close range, however, at the end of the minute, Silva was surprised by a counterattack from Stanislav and suffered a knockdown, with the Bulgarian finishing the round on top.
However, in the third round came Thiago's big turnaround. With his opponent apparently tired, he unleashed his arsenal of blows. After Nedkov retreated against the bars, the Brazilian attacked his legs, took him down and got to mount. Without rushing, Thigo prepared the katagatame and applied the right choke, ending the dispute. Interestingly, it was the first duel of the event that ended without the judges' decision.
South Korean imposes his game and cancels it Paulo thiago
The Brazilian Paulo thiago has everything to want to forget the year 2012. After living with an injury, suffering a frightening knockout against the Afghan Siyar Bahadurzada, in April, the Brazilian was completely dominated by Dong Hyum Kim. The South Korean athlete used his judo base to stick to the Brazilian and use his takedown game. Despite not being forceful, Kim evolved in his positions and even tried to end the fight in the first round with a rear naked choke, which was well defended by the Brazilian.
On the way back to the second round, Paulo, who is also a police officer at BOPE in Brasília, tried to put his striking into play and risked some high kicks, however, Kim soon closed the distance to take down the Tupiniquim athlete and work on top just like he did in the previous assault.
In the third round, with the Brazilian already very tired, the South Korean kept the fight standing and even risked a round punch, which ended up hitting the octagon bars, but the moment the Brazilian tried to release the game he was knocked down again. This time, Dong Hyum loosened his game, changed his positions and, upon arriving in mount, threw an arsenal of punches at Paulo. At the end of the dispute, he innovated and even punched with both hands simultaneously. At the end of the dispute, Dong Hyum Kim won the unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 30×27, 30×26),
Lineker recovers and wins first in UFC
The first Brazilian to enter the octagon, John Lineker from Paraná managed to overcome the problems of his debut in the organization, in May of this year, and find his best game to beat the Japanese Yasuhiro Urushitani. Despite the triumph, Linker encountered difficulties at the beginning of the duel, when the Japanese athlete used his quick movement to escape the Brazilian's sharp boxing. Furthermore, Urushitani was always dangerous with quick kicks, which hit John's body.
However, after the initial assault, the Brazilian managed to loosen up his game and show all his aggression. With powerful punches connected to the waistline, the Japanese even fled the fight at times. In the third round, the Brazilian repeated the recipe from the previous round and was once again better, including knocking down Urushitani at the beginning of the dispute. Lost in training, the Japanese athlete tried to change his strategy and take down the Brazilian, but well in his takedown defense, John still managed to punish his opponent with each attack from his rival. At the end of the dispute, John Linker won the unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 29×28, 29×28).
Check out the complete UFC on FUEL 6 results below:
Main Card
Cung le defeated Rich Franklin by knockout in R1;
Thiago Silva finished Stanislav Nedkov with a katagatame in R3;
Dong Hyum Kim defeated Paulo thiago in the judges' split decision;
Takanori Gomi defeated Mac Danzig via split decision;
Jon Tuck defeated Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision;
Takeya Mizugaki defeated Jeff Hougland via unanimous decision;
Preliminary Card
Alex Caceres defeated Motonobu Tezuka via split decision;
John lineker defeated Yasuhiro Urushitani via unanimous decision by the judges;
Riki Fukuda defeated Tom DeBlass via unanimous decision;
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