UFC on FOX 11: On the preliminary card, Caio Monstro runs over and Pitbull dominates on his return

Monstro (photo) won his third consecutive victory in Ultimate. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

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In an event with a large presence of Brazilians, the country's athletes had a good participation in the UFC on FOX 11 preliminary card, this Saturday (19), in Orlando (USA). In four fights, Brazilian fighters had a 50% success rate, with victories of Gaius Monster e Thiago Pitbull. Athletes who did not win, Rafael dos Anjos and Hernani Perpétuo, performed well against tough opponents.

Brazil's greatest highlight was Caio Magalhães. “Monster”, as he is known, gave no chance to Luke Zachrich, called up for the clash at the last minute, and ran over his opponent. Another Brazilian to win on the preliminary card was Thiago Pitbull. Having stopped for two years, Thiago didn't show a lack of pace and dominated Seth Baczynksi to win his first triumph since 2011.

Nurmagomedov wins Rafael dos Anjos, remains undefeated and is already asking for the belt

In the fight that closed the preliminary card, the Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos lost an unbeaten streak that had already lasted five fights in the duel of top-10 in the lightweight category with the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov. Rafael stuck to his strategy, but ended up succumbing to Khabib's renowned takedown game.

In the first round, Rafael was involved in the grappling of Nurmagomedov, who managed to close the distance and take down the Brazilian to secure the advantage in the partial. In the second round, Rafael managed to put pressure on his opponent with a guillotine, but he didn't do enough to guarantee the submission. Despite the good moment, the Brazilian ended up in a complicated situation again.

In the third round, Rafael was putting pressure on the Russian, but ended up taking a spectacular fall, which guaranteed him some more precious points just before the end of regulation time. At the end of the confrontation, Khabib was declared the winner by unanimous decision and remained undefeated as a professional. After the triumph, celebrating on the fence, Nurmagomedov took the opportunity to ask for a shot at the lightweight belt.

Pitbull imposes himself in the stand-up fight and wins by unanimous decision

Even without fighting for two years, due to a long sequence of surgeries, Thiago Pitbull He didn't show that he was out of rhythm. The Brazilian showed an intense rhythm and had a fight with a lot of striking with Seth Baczynski.

Without going to the ground once in the 15 minutes of combat, the athletes tried to use their best weapons: Pitbull with the Muay Thai cliché and the sequences that ended with a low kick, while Baczynski bet on his greater wingspan.

At the end of the three rounds, Thiago Pitbull was declared the winner by unanimous decision of the judges. The triumph was the Brazilian's first in the octagon since November 2011, when he overcame Papy Abedi. Pitbull now has a record of 20 wins and nine losses.

Alex White gets quick knockout and Masvidal dominates Healy

The middle part of the preliminary card began with a good victory for newcomer Alex White over Estevan Payan, in a fight valid for the featherweight category. Payan accepted the exchange and ended up getting the worst of it after being hit by a hard left jab. The intervention of referee George Ortiz still took a while, Estevan even regained consciousness from the knockout and got up complaining, uselessly, to the judge.

In the next fight, Jorge masvidal got the better of Pat Healy in the duel between former Strikeforce athletes. Masvidal imposed his game well and used a good mix of sharp boxing and high kicks to dominate his opponent. At the end of the three rounds, the athlete from Florida was declared the winner by unanimous decision of the judges.

overwhelming, Gaius Monster knocks out and receives unusual request from opponent

The physical difference between Gaius Monster and Luke Zachrich was notable from the weigh-in, but it took the Brazilian less than a minute to make use of his greatest firepower and knock out the North American debutant. Caio has now won three consecutive victories in the Octagon.

As soon as the opening bell sounded, the Brazilian attacked and managed to shake Zachrich with a good sequence of punches to the head. But it was a hook that made his rival feel it and go to the ground, where Caio only had to throw a few more right blows to win the fight. After the fight ended, according to the website “MMA Junkie”, Luke Zachrich told Monstro's corners that he would love to train with the Brazilian in the future.

Hernani Perpétuo leaves a good impression, but is defeated by Jordan Mein

Substitute for the injured Santiago Ponzinibbio, Rio de Janeiro native Hernani Perpétuo left a good impression in his Ultimate debut, against Jordan Mein. After a slow start, with two rounds of little action and the Canadian's superiority, the Nova União athlete managed to get his rival in a kneebar in the third round, but the Canadian remained calm and managed to escape the submission.

One minute before the end of the fight, Perpétuo lowered his guard, called Mein into the fight and connected good blows. However, the lack of movement in the initial stages took its toll and the lack of time played against the Brazilian. Even though he took the final round, Hernani ended up being defeated by a split decision from the judges.

Opening of the preliminary card features a knockout, controversial decision and decisive low blow

The fights that opened the UFC on FOX 11 preliminary card brought different moments to fans. In the first fight of the night, heavyweight Derrick Lewis he took away rival Jack May's unbeaten record with a technical knockout victory, after a good run in the ground and pound.

In the second fight, Mirsad Bektic got the better of Chas Skelly in the duel of newcomers in the octagon. Bektic was declared the winner by majority decision, two judges gave him victory and one saw it as a draw. Defeated, Skelly had a point deducted after kneeing his opponent while he had three supports on the ground.

In the last fight of the initial part of the schedule, what we saw was a very balanced fight. Thirteenth placed in the bantamweight rankings, Dustin Ortiz overcame newcomer Ray Borg, called up at the last minute for the event after having fought just two weeks ago at Legacy FC, in a split decision. The result did not please the audience at the Amway Center, who reacted with boos.

Check out all the results from the UFC on FOX 11 preliminary card below:

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Khabib Nurmagomedov won Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision of the judges;

Welterweight (up to 77 kg): Thiago Alves beat Seth Baczynski by unanimous decision of the judges;

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Jorge masvidal beat Pat Healy by unanimous decision of the judges;

Featherweight (up to 66 kg): Alex White beat Estevan Payan by technical knockout in R1;

Average weight (up to 84 kg): Gaius Monster beat Luke Zachrich by TKO in R1;

Welterweight (up to 77 kg): Jordan Mein beat Hernani Perpétuo by split decision from the judges;

Bantamweight (up to 57 kg): Dustin Ortiz beat Ray Borg by split decision;

Featherweight (up to 66 kg): Mirsad Bektic beat Chas Skelly by majority decision of the judges;

Heavy weight (up to 120 kg):  Derrick Lewis beat Jack May by technical knockout in R1.

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