Fernando Santo Forte wins and will fight for the IGF belt

Brazilian Fernando Santo Forte won by knockout this Saturday (29) his fight in the semifinals of the heavyweight GP at IGF4, one of the biggest MMA organizations in Japan. The Brazilian faced Swede Yosef Ali Mohammad and did not disappoint.

The victory came just 1m39s into the first round, but it wasn't easy at all. The Swede started the fight strong, and the Brazilian had to recover to win the battle.

“I started off late, the guy was tough and ended up knocking me down at the beginning. I ended up outside the ring and the judge put me back on my feet and I recovered. I took him down and then I started working on ground and pound”, explains Fernando.

With sharp ground and pound, Santo Forte didn't take long to reverse the fight's situation. With the Swede bleeding heavily, the referee stopped the fight for medical attention. “With my blows, I opened his eyebrow and the judge stopped. When he came back from the service, he wanted to change it and a cross came in and he fell off”, comments the victorious Brazilian. During the celebration, Fernando opened his half-Brazilian and half-Japanese flag, made especially for this fight.

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This is Fernando Santo Forte's second victory in Japan, in his second international fight. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Brazilian, who trains at 011 MMA Gym, in São Paulo, had already beaten the experienced Frenchman Antony Rea by knockout.

With this result, Fernando Santo Forte now has nine wins and just one loss in ten fights in his professional MMA record.

The final of the Heavyweight Grand Prix will be played against the British Oli Thompson (15-8-0), who beat the American Chris “Huggy Bear” Barnett by unanimous decision of the judges in the main fight of this Saturday's card. The grand final event will take place on December 31st in Tokyo.

“I hope to win the belt. The worst part is over, I think my fight matches his fight a lot, which comes from boxing. I'm going to prepare again at 011. We're going to bring this belt to Brazil with all our might,” he concluded.