Barão submits McDonald and defends interim bantamweight belt. Photo: Josh Hedges
With the right to a show, Renan Barao He showed heart, endurance and a lot of technique to defend the interim bantamweight belt. The Brazilian submitted the American Michael McDonald in the main fight of UFC on FUEL 7, an event held this Saturday afternoon (16), in London, England. The show's fight program also featured two more Tupiniquin athletes in action: Renée Forte won her first victory in the organization by beating Terry emo, while Jorge Santiago ended up being surpassed by Icelandic Gunnar Nelson.
The fight
The main fight of the event brought together two athletes from the new generation of the sport. At 22 years old, North American Michael McDonald started the duel by taking the initiative against the interim champion Renan Barao, 25 years old. But linked to his rival's dangerous striking, the Brazilian soon looked for a takedown and tried to score points at the beginning of the duel. However, Michael soon managed to get up and the dispute continued with the exchange.
In the second round came Barão's big scare. McDonald managed to land a hard combination of punches on the Brazilian, who felt the blows and even bent his knees. But with a lot of resistance, he managed to recover and continue in the dispute.
The third round seemed to go the same way as the previous round. The North American avoided the Brazilian's takedowns and tried to keep the fight standing. However, Barão managed to land a beautiful round kick to McDonald's face, who caught the blow and walked back. It was the beginning of redemption.
In the fourth round, with better physical preparation, Renan dominated the duel. The native of Rio Grande do Norte landed his best blows while standing, took the fight to the ground and passed guard. In the 100 kg position, he landed a fair kata-gatame (choke) and forced the North American to give up the fight.
At the end of the battle, still emotional, Barão sent his message to Dominick Cruz, champion of the category who is injured. "I want you Dominick Cruz", shot.
Santiago loses to Icelander
Jorge Santiago's return to the UFC was not the way the Brazilian expected. Summoned in a hurry to the event, the Tupiniquim athlete was unable to impose his game against the Icelandic Gunnar Nelson.
At the beginning of the fight, Jorginho took the initiative and tried to work with hand strikes. But Gunnar surprised the Brazilian by changing base and leaving the Tupiniquim athlete's range of action. With Santiago confused in his movement, Nelson quickly got to the legs and took down the Brazilian, from where he worked on top in the ground fight.
In the second round the Icelandic continued to be better. In the first few moves he launched a sequence of three crosses and then took the fight to the ground. On the ground, he reached half guard, from where he worked with punches and elbow strikes and finished the partial mount.
Losing the fight after two rounds, Santiago opened the game in the third round. Despite being tired, the Brazilian tried to fight against Gunnar and had some good times. In the final moments, Nelson let his guard down and Jorginho managed to land two good punches, which made his rival wobble, but it was too late.
In the end, Gunnar Nelson won the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 30×27).
Renée fights well and wins her first victory in the UFC
Brazilian Renée Forte seems to have found his category within the UFC. After participating in TUF Brasil as a middleweight (up to 84 kg) and debuting in the octagon in the welterweight category (up to 77 kg), it was in the lightweight division that the athlete from Ceará showed his potential. In front of English Terry emo, Forte silenced the fans present at Wembley Arena.
With a disadvantage in his wingspan, the Brazilian soon closed the distance and worked with powerful hand strikes, which hit the Briton in the face on several occasions.
In the second round, Etim tried to recover, but was soon caught in a quick counterattack. Renée landed a good sequence of blows from his rival and pinned Terry against the bars and even knocked the Englishman down during the partial.
In the third round, Renée took advantage of the fact that her opponent needed to open up the game to come back and fight and sought a conservative fight. Even so, he continued to be more forceful in his striking and even managed a takedown, from where he worked on top until the end of the fight.
In the end, Renée Forte won the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 30×27).
Check out the complete UFC on FUEL 7 results below:
Main Card
Renan Barao submitted Michael McDonald with a kata-gatame in R4;
Cub swanson derrotou Dustin poirier in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Jimi Manuwa defeated Cyrille Diabate via TKO in R1;
Gunnar Nelson defeated Jorge santiago in the unanimous decision of the judges;
James Te Huna defeated Ryan Jimmo via unanimous decision;
Matthew Riddle defeated Che Mills via split decision;
Preliminary Card
Renée Forte derrotou Terry emo in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Danny Castillo defeated Paul Sass via unanimous decision;
Andy Ogle defeated Josh Grispi via unanimous decision;
Tom Watson defeated Stanislav Nedkov by technical knockout R2;
Vaughan Lee defeated Motonobu Tezuka via unanimous decision;
Phil Harris defeated Ulysses Gomez via unanimous decision;
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