TJ got revenge on Assunção at UFC 200. Photo: Jeff Bottari/UFC
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The night didn't start off well for Brazilian fighters at UFC 200, an event held this Saturday (9), in Las Vegas (USA). The country's representatives on the preliminary card, Thiago Marreta e Raphael Assunção, were defeated in their fights at the historic event.
Marreta was looking for the most important victory of his career against the renowned Gegard Mousasi, former Strikeforce champion. However, the middleweight suffered a technical knockout in the first round, which halted his rise in the 84 kg division.
Assunção was unable to cope with the frenetic pace imposed by the former bantamweight champion. TJ Dillashaw and got the worst of the judges' decision. The Brazilian thus suffers his first defeat since dropping to 61 kg.
The UFC 200 preliminary card also had a sequence of knockouts in its opening, the recovery of the “UFC darling” Sage Northcutt, in addition to the victory of Kelvin Gastelum about the former welterweight champion John hendricks. Check out the first fights of the night:
Mousasi runs over and stops Marreta's rise
Mousasi (photo) ran over Marreta in the first round. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
With an eye on what would be the biggest victory of his career, Thiago Marreta did not face the dangerous Gegard Mousasi and suffered a resounding defeat in the first round, by technical knockout.
The fight started with both accepting the game standing, with Mousasi walking forward. Around the middle of the first round, Mousasi cornered the Brazilian against the fence, landed good blows and applied the knockdown. On the ground, the Armenian-Dutch achieved dominant positions, including with the guard passed.
In the final minute of the first round, Marreta saw an opening and got up, but Mousasi took advantage of the moment to land a sharp hook on the Brazilian, who fell. The fight was stopped by the referee at 4:32.
Thus, Mousasi wins his second consecutive victory against Brazilians (he had overcome Thales leites in February), while Marreta loses the first one after four consecutive victories.
UFC's 'Sweetheart' is almost submitted, but wins
S. Northcutt (photo) won at UFC 200. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
After three quick technical knockouts at the beginning of the night, the first fight that reached the judges' decision was between Sage Northcutt and Enrique Marin. Best for the North American, who unanimously won.
Considered the “apple of the eye” of Ultimate, being the youngest athlete in the organization (20 years old), Northcutt went through a tough time to get the victory. In the three rounds of competition, the fight showed a clear trend: on the feet, Northcutt bothered him with kicks, while the Spaniard sought to fight on the ground.
In the second round, Marin even came very close to submitting, locking in a tight armbar on the North American. However, Northcutt survived on the basis of race. In the third round, when Marin seemed destined for victory, Northcutt managed to land on top and impress the judges.
In the end, the three judges pointed to victory for Northcutt, who thus recovered from the setback suffered in his most recent fight, to Bryan barberena. Marin loses his second in two fights in the UFC.
Assunção loses to former champion Dillashaw
TJ (photo) is a former UFC champion. Photo: Jeff Bottari/UFC
Raphael Assunção He suffered his first defeat since joining the bantamweight division against the opponent over whom he obtained the most important victory of his career. The Brazilian lost to the former champion TJ Dillashaw in a very busy fight.
All 15 minutes of action took place standing up. The fight maintained a frenetic pace practically from start to finish, with Dillashaw having the upper hand with his speed and quick leg movement.
Some specific blows caused problems for the Brazilian, such as a direct blow in the first round (which left him with a bloody nose) and a knockdown in the second. Dillashaw made good use of the gaps left by Raphael and made a difference in the volume of blows, in addition to getting takedowns at important moments in the rounds.
At the end of the action, all the judges gave victory to Dillashaw, who thus takes revenge for the setback he suffered in 2013, at UFC Barueri. It is also the North American's first victory since losing the category belt to Dominick Cruz, in January.
Gastelum wins and sinks Hendricks
Former UFC welterweight champion, John hendricks got complicated in the category after being defeated by Kelvin Gastelum in the unanimous decision of the judges.
Coming from a knockout defeat and unable to make weight in the category on Friday (8), Hendricks, who wore a new beardless look, ended up dominated by Gastelum's sharp boxing. The TUF winner landed the best blows on the former champion, especially in the first round, when he made his rival wobble.
In the second round, Hendricks seemed to recover and react to the attacks he was receiving. However, Gastelum continued to be annoying in his striking, in addition to preventing Hendricks' takedown attempts.
After three rounds, all the side judges pointed to the victory of Gastelum, who is thus recovering from the setback he suffered to Neil Magny at the end of last year. Hendricks loses the second in a row.
UFC 200 preliminary card results:
Julianna Pena derrotou Zingano cat in the unanimous decision of the judges
Kelvin Gastelum derrotou John hendricks in the unanimous decision of the judges
TJ Dillashaw derrotou Raphael Assunção in the unanimous decision of the judges
Sage Northcutt defeated Enrique Marin via unanimous decision by the judges
Joe lauzon derrotou Diego Sanchez by technical knockout (punches) at 1min26s of R1
Gegard Mousasi derrotou Thiago Marreta by technical knockout (punches) at 4:32 of R1
Jim Miller defeated Takaroni Gomi by technical knockout (punches) at 2min18s of R1
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