R. Assunção (left) wins seventh straight in the UFC and wants a title shot
The Brazilian Raphael Assunção entered the octagon, in the early hours of this Sunday (05), to prove that he deserves a chance to fight for the Ultimate bantamweight belt. And depending on his performance at UFC Fight Night 54, he showed that he is worthy of the challenger position. In a safe performance, the Pernambuco native dominated the North American Bryan caraway – boyfriend of the beautiful UFC fighter Miesha Tate – and won with a unanimous decision from the judges. The result marked the seventh consecutive triumph for Raphael, who has the longest winning streak within the 61,2 kg category.
In the main fight of UFC Fight Night 54, an event held in Halifax, Canada, the local athlete Rory McDonald made the fans happy and defeated the Belgian Tarec saffiedine by technical knockout in the third round. With the triumph, 'Ares', as he is known, also came close to a title shot in the welterweight division.
Raphael Assunção scores seventh victory
In a fight with two specialists in grappling, the fight remained on the feet for most of the time. The Brazilian showed great progress in his striking by quickly finding distance, working with combinations of low kicks and hand strikes. Caraway responded with bold entries, but the Pernambuco native managed to dodge and counterattack with force.
After losing the first round, the North American came with everything at the beginning of the second round. Caraway started the attack with a head kick and ended it with a takedown. However, Raphael quickly managed to get up and frustrate his rival. Bryan insisted on the strategy of looking for the takedown, while Assunção maintained his game plan and landed the best strikes while standing, even opening a cut on his rival.
In the third half, Bryan Caraway was already tired and Raphael increased the pace of the fight. In addition to connecting the best strikes in his striking, the Brazilian also managed to take down his rival and land some punches from above. At the end of the fight, with great confidence, the Pernambuco native lowered his guard, called the North American to attack, and always responded with aggression in the counterattack.
At the end of three rounds, victory for Raphael Assunção in the unanimous decision of the judges with a triple 30×27.
“I didn't want to lose this fight and I knew it would be difficult to win if I let him hit me. This is my seventh consecutive victory and I think the eighth is within my belt”, said the Brazilian, mentioning the title fight.
Bruno Carioca fights well, but loses
In a very balanced fight, Brazilian Bruno Carioca left the octagon with his second defeat in the UFC. In the fight against Elias Theodoreau, Bruno had a good start in his striking and connected good blows. The Canadian, in turn, tried to work in the clinch and pressed the Brazilian against the bars.
In the second round, the story followed the same path. But Carioca managed a good takedown, took down his rival and reached Theodoreau's back. He tried several times to secure the choke, but without success.
In the third round, the Brazilian tried to repeat the successful tactic from the previous round. He shortened it, got the takedown and reached his back. But this time the Canadian managed to get up and return to the fight on his feet.
From the middle of the last round, Bruno Carioca began to feel the rhythm of the fight and lost momentum. Elias Theodoreau took advantage of the moment and managed to take the dispute to the ground. The Canadian improved in position, reaching mount. He worked with some attacks until the end of the fight.
At the end of 15 minutes, the best went to Elias Theodoreau who won the unanimous decision of the judges with a triple 29×28.
Pedro Munoz wins yet another
P. Munoz lands a guillotine choke to win the fight. Photo: UFC
The first Brazilian to step into the Octagon, Pedro Munoz was quick on the trigger. The bantamweight needed just 39 seconds to land a guillotine and submit Jerrod Sanders. As soon as the fight started, the North American tried to attack the Tupiniquim athlete's legs. However, Pedro defended the entry and secured the choke. Sanders still tried to defend himself with the pile driver, but the Brazilian connected the blow even better and forced the opponent to give up.
MAIN CARD
Rory McDonald derrotou Tarec saffiedine by technical knockout in R3;
Raphael Assunção derrotou Bryan caraway in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Chad Laprise defeated Yosdenis Cedeno via unanimous decision;
Elias Theodoreau defeated Bruno Carioca in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Nordine Taleb defeated li jingliang in the judges' split decision;
Mitch Gagnon submitted Roman Salazar with a rear naked choke in R1;
PRELIMINARY CARD
Daron Cruickshank defeated Anthony Njokuani via unanimous decision;
Olivier Aubin-Mercier submitted Jake Lindsey with a reverse triangle in R2;
Paul felder defeated Jason Saggo via split decision;
Chris Kelades defeated Paddy Holohan by unanimous decision;
Albert Tumenov defeated Matt Dwyer by knockout in R1;
Peter Munhoz submitted Jerrod Sanders with a guillotine choke in R1;
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