Brazilians win on UFC Chicago preliminary card

M. Trator (left), A. Cowby (c) and KLB (right) won on the UFC Chicago preliminary card

Brazil started well at UFC Chicago, an event held this Saturday (23), at the United Center. With four representatives from the country on the preliminary card, three left the octagon with their arms raised. Luis Henrique KLB finished Dmitry Smoliakov, Alex Cowboy defeated James Moontasri, while Michel Trator beat James Moontasri. The only Brazilian setback in the opening program was Geoffrey Pepey, which ended up being tied up by the play of Darren Elkins.

Pepey starts well, but falls into Elkins' trap

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The Brazilian Geoffrey Pepey he had a tough mission to maintain his winning streak in Ultimate. Facing a tough Darren Elkins, the Ceará native started the contest well.

With great evolution in stand-up fighting, Pepey He started the contest with a beautiful round shot, which stunned his rival. Afterwards, the Brazilian went up, connected with a good right, but ended up defeated. However, in a beautiful attack on the arm, he reversed position and mounted the North American, from where he landed good punches.

Elkins managed to escape the pressure and resumed his pressure game on the fence until he got the takedown. From then on, the story of the fight changed. Pepey  he had difficulty avoiding takedowns and was unable to attack his rival from below.

The second round, like the previous part, started quickly. Elkins tried to exchange punches while standing, but was surprised by a roundhouse kick. Pepey. But the Brazilian lost his balance and ended up falling underneath. When escaping from the ground, the Brazilian athlete made a mistake: when Elkins got up Pepey applied an illegal knee, with the opponent in three supports on the ground. Central referee Herb Dean took a point from the Brazilian and the North American had five minutes to recover.

As soon as the fight resumed, Elkins managed a takedown and fought on the ground, landing several punches from the top.

In the third round, Pepey I had a mission! Avoid ground fighting. However, in the first few moves, the Brazilian accepted the fight from below and was unable to put his jiu-jitsu into practice.

With three minutes to go, the Brazilian managed to stay on his feet, but was soon knocked down again until the end of the period. With the dispute in the hands of the judges, everyone scored a victory for Darren Elkins (29-27, 29-27 and 30-26).

No risk, Cowboy beats Anderson Silva's 'teacher'

Known for always presenting exciting fights, Alex Cowboy changed the strategy in search of victory. In front of James Moontasri, tae-kwon-do teacher from Anderson Silva, the Brazilian opted for a tactical fight and dominated his rival in the ground fight.

In the first few moves, Cowboy avoided the fight on his feet and looked for the cinch. But when applying a knee to the genital region, the North American felt it and the duel was interrupted for several minutes.

When the dispute resumed, Cowboy, once again, closed the distance and put pressure on the cage. The Brazilian, even without getting the takedown, stopped his rival's movement in an advantageous position

In the second round, the Brazilian quickly attacked his legs and got the takedown. He hit hard from the top and only at the end of the half did Moontasri manage to get up. However, the American was once again crushed in the clinch.

Behind on the cards, Moontasri came for all or nothing in the third round. He started the dispute by landing a round punch. But the Brazilian responded and accepted the exchange of blows. However, when the North American tried to grow in the dispute, he quickly sought the takedown and cooked the dispute on the ground to take the dispute to the judges' decision.

Luis Henrique KLB opens event with finish

After debuting in Ultimate with a defeat, Luis Henrique KLB returned to the Octagon in style. In the opening fight of the show, the Brazilian overcame Russian Dmitry Smoliakov's favoritism and submitted his rival with a beautiful rear naked choke in the second round.

KLB started the fight well on the feet and with an overhand in the first moments, he opened the way to victory. The Brazilian quickly sought the fight in the clinch, avoiding the power of his rival's attacks. As soon as he got the takedown, Luis Henrique dominated the contest. The Brazilian hit hard from above.

In the second round, with the Russian quite worn out, KLB repeated the recipe from the previous round. He quickly sought the clinch, attacked the legs and got the takedown.

From then on, he connected several punches to the Russian's head, who was fighting to stay alive. As soon as he had the opportunity, the Brazilian quickly locked in a rear naked choke and submitted Smoliakov

UFC Chicago preliminary card results

Darren Elkins defeated Geoffrey Pepey in the unanimous decision of the judges (29×27, 29×27 30×26)

Kamaru Usman derrotou Alexander Yakovlev in the unanimous decision of the judges (30×25, 30×25, 30×25)

Michel Tractor defeated JC Cottrell via unanimous decision (30×27, 30×26, 30×27)

Alex Cowboy defeated James Moontasri via unanimous decision (30×26, 30×26, 30×25);

Jason Knight defeated Jim Alers via unanimous decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)

Luis Henrique KLB submitted Dmitry Smoliakov with a rear naked choke at 3,58s of R2;