J. Formiga (left) lost to H. Cejudo (right) at UFC Monterrey. Photo: UFC
the dream of Jussier formiga to fight for the UFC belt has been postponed. The Brazilian, who had won three consecutive victories in the organization, should have had a chance at the title if he defeated the Olympic champion Henry Cejudo at UFC Fight Night 78, an event held in the early hours of this Sunday (22), in Monterrey, Mexico. But the setback in the judges' decision took away the Potiguar's opportunity to challenge the champion Demetrious Johnson.
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The fight
If the The atmosphere between Cejudo and Formiga was hot at the weigh-in, last Friday, inside the octagon the athletes lived up to expectations. With a lot of speed and great evolution in the stand-up fight, the American of Mexican descent, gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics in wrestling, beat the Brazilian in a very competitive duel.
The fight began with a studied exchange of blows. Cejudo showed more speed to enter and leave the range of action. But Formiga, even though he landed fewer blows, was more forceful and managed to shake his rival's head on two occasions.
In the final seconds of the first round, the North American managed a takedown to secure an advantage in the final.
The fight came back even more balanced in the second round. Cejudo repeated the tactic of maintaining an intense rhythm in the fight, but the Brazilian responded to the attacks and landed good blows in the clinch. Formiga still defended the takedown attempt and grew in the dispute.
With such an intense fight, physical preparation was a major factor in deciding the winner. AND Henry Cejudo showed better preparation to guarantee the victory.
The North American, son of Mexican parents, had the support of the fans to maintain the fast pace of the duel. Henry had the advantage in the stand-up fight, landed the best blows in the clinch and, despite not keeping Jussier on the ground, still managed a takedown.
In the end, the judges declared the victory of Henry Cejudo in the split decision (30×27, 28×29, 30×28). With the triumph, the Olympic champion in Beijing remains undefeated in MMA with 10 wins and no defeats.
In turn, Formiga, who has a record of 18 wins and four losses, saw his sequence of positive results fall and, consequently, his chance at the flyweight belt fall.
Leandro Buscapé beats Efrain Escudero
In the other fight on the main card involving a Brazilian, Leandro Buscapé had a better result than his compatriot. The São Paulo native fought a balanced duel against Efrain Escudero and won by the judges' decision. The fight started quite evenly with an exchange of punches while standing, with the Brazilian gaining a small advantage.
In the second round, the TUF 7 champion went for takedowns and put Buscapé on his back on the ground. On top, the North American of Mexican descent controlled the shares and took the partial.
The third round, which would be fundamental for the Brazilian, was decided with an upset. Efrain started striking in the fight standing up, but he apparently felt the rhythm of the fight and ended up getting tired.
Leandro took advantage of the moment, managed the takedown and got to his rival's back. Escudero defended himself by blocking Buscapé's arms to avoid the choke. But the Brazilian held the position and despite not finishing, he managed to gain an advantage on the cards to win the judges' decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28).
Main fight
Although the duel between Cejudo and Formiga is the most important because they are two highly ranked athletes, the main fight of UFC Fight Night 78 featured the welterweights Kelvin Gastelum e Neil Magny.
And Magny, who was called at the last minute for the event, surprised the favorite Kelvin Gastelum and after three rounds of dominance, he suffered from his rival's recovery in the last rounds, but won in a split decision from the judges (48×47, 47×48,48×47)
TUF Latin America Finals
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) met its two new champions in the Latin American version. In the decision between the lightweights, the Peruvian Enrique Barzola marked his name in UFC history. The fighter was the first athlete in the country to win the UFC reality show. In the final against Mexican Horacio Gutierrez, the South American fighter remained in the fight, controlled the actions and won the judges' unanimous decision (30×27, 30×27, 30×26).
Among the welterweights, Mexican Erick Montaño had a very tough fight against Spaniard Enrique Martin. But in the judges' split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28), the home athlete came out on top and secured a six-figure contract with the UFC.
Check out the UFC FN 78 technical sheet below:
MAIN CARD
Neil Magny derrotou Kelvin Gastelum in the judges' split decision (48×47, 47×48, 48×47)
Ricardo Lamas defeated Diego Sanchez in the unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 28×29, 30×27)
Henry Cejudo derrotou Jussier formiga in the judges' split decision (30×27, 28×29, 30×27)
Erick Montaño defeated Enrique Martin via split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
Enrique Barzola defeated Horacio Gutierrez in the unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 30×27, 30×26)
Leandro Buscapé defeated Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Érik Pérez defeated Taylor Lapilus via unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Bartosz Fabinski defeated Héctor Urbina in the unanimous decision of the judges
Alejandro Pérez defeated Scott Jorgensen by technical knockout (injury) at 4m26s of R2;
André Fili derrotou Gabriel benitez by knockout at 3m13s of R1;
Alvaro Herrera defeated Vernon Ramos by knockout 30 seconds ago. from R1
Michel Tractor derrotou Valmir Bidu in the unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 28×29, 29×28);
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