In a heated duel, Assunção (left) beat Sterling (right) by points. (Photo: Getty Images)
In the penultimate fight of the UFC Denver preliminary card, held this Saturday (28), in the United States, best for the bantamweight Raphael Assunção, which exceeded the promise aljamain sterling in the judges' split decision ((28×29, 29×28, 29×28) and returned to the winning path. With the victory, his eighth in the last nine fights, Assunção puts himself back in the mix of next challengers for the category belt.
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Before that, three other Brazilians were in action. Alexandre pantoja e Marcos Foot they overcame Eric Shelton and Jeremy Kimball, respectively, while Luiz Henrique Frankenstein was dominated by Jordan Johnson and lost his second in a row.
The fight
Raphael started the duel by firing kicks at Sterling's legs, who responded in kind. The two began to study each other more, with few blows thrown, much to the disapproval of the public present. When attempting a leg kick, Assunção hit his rival's back, which he immediately felt. After medical attention, the fight resumed with both men standing in the center of the octagon, with Raphael landing a good straight shot. Unorthodox, Sterling risked some high kicks, but the Brazilian defended well and responded with the counterattack.
At the beginning of the second half, Sterling claimed to have been hit by another illegal blow from the Brazilian, but the referee ordered the duel to continue. Hunting his opponent in the octagon, Assunção connected with a good straight right, shaking Aljamain, who tried to respond with blows to the waist line, but without much success. Sterling tried to take the fight to the ground, but Raphael defended well and kept the fight standing. With little action in the fight, the public booed again in the final moments of the round.
Steling returned to take the initiative in the decisive stage, but the Brazilian responded with a good combination of a low kick followed by a jab. The two started to provoke each other in the center of the octagon, and once again Raphael connected a good jab, felt by the North American, who continued throwing blows into the void. In the final minute, Sterling landed a strong right on Assunção, who felt it and started circling the Octagon. Aljamain continued 'hunting' the Brazilian, who just dodged.
In a warm fight, Sam Alvey overcomes Nate Marquardt
Alvey (left) and Marquadt (right) had a warm fight on the preliminary card. (Photo: Getty Images)
In the last fight of the preliminary card, Sam alvey defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28) in a tepid duel, with little effectiveness on both sides. This was the fourth consecutive victory for “Sorriso”, while veteran Marquardt lost again after beating Tamdan McCrory in October 2016.
Alvey started with a low kick, while Marquardt measured the distance. Alvey took the duel to the cage, but the two fighters barely attacked each other, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight. Sam tried to surprise Marquardt by heading towards him, but the veteran continued to avoid contact. Under boos from the public, the two tried a stand-up in the final seconds, but they didn't have time.
Alvey returned to the second stage more aggressive, connecting good blows on Nate, who did not show any type of aggression. After a few moments of study, Sam landed a strong right on Marquardt, which was a knockdown, but he quickly got up. “Smile” continued to do better until the end of the round, landing good blows on his rival, who tried, unsuccessfully, to surprise with the counterattack.
Aware of the disadvantage in the opening rounds, Marquardt came back controlling the actions, surrounding Alvey in the octagon, but without much effectiveness. After a brief fight in the clinch, Nate applied a good takedown and went to Alvey's back, who defended himself by blocking his opponent's arms, before returning to his feet. Sam took Marquardt to the cage, but the two returned to the center of the octagon. The fight remained warm until the bell sounded, to the dissatisfaction of the fans present in the arena.
Jordan Johnson dominates Frankenstein on the ground and debuts with victory
Johnson didn't give Frankenstein a chance and dominated the three rounds. (Photo: Getty Images)
It was not this time that Luiz Henrique Frankenstein returned to the path of victory. After suffering the first setback of his career in his penultimate fight, the Brazilian light heavyweight suffered his second consecutive defeat, this time to the North American Jordan Johnson, who dominated the Brazilian in the ground game and won by unanimous decision from the judges ( (30×27, 30×37, 30×27) This was Johnson’s first fight in the UFC, while the Pernambuco native lost for the second time in four fights in the organization.
Frankenstein began taking action in the fight, shooting a leg kick and looking for a clinch, but was taken down by Jordan. When trying to get up, the Brazilian left his neck exposed and fell into a handlock from the North American, but managed to resist and got back to his feet. Luiz Henrique started to throw good blows at Johnson, who defended well and applied another takedown, controlling the fight from the top until the horn sounded.
The second round barely started and Johnson took the Brazilian down. From above, the North American threw some blows, without much effectiveness. Visibly tired, Frankenstein didn't show much of a reaction, while Jordan continued to control the duel on top for four minutes. In the final minute, the duel was back on track, but nothing significant happened.
Jordan returned for the last round with the same strategy: taking the fight to the ground. And he succeeded. After another fall, he sought the Brazilian's back, who managed to free himself from the position. On top, Johnson continued punishing Frankenstein, who showed no reaction. The pace continued until the end of the round, with Johnson working on top and scoring to win his first victory in the organization.
Marcos Pezão runs over Jeremy Kimball in the first round
Pezão (right) returned to winning ways after knocking out Kimball. (Photo: Getty Images)
Overwhelming! This is how Marcos Rogério Pezão's victory over debutante Jeremy Kimball can be defined. Coming from a defeat, the Brazilian didn't give the North American a chance and won by technical knockout at 2:27 of the first round, putting himself back on the path to victory. This is Pezão's fourth triumph in Ultimate, all in the opening round. In the interview still in the octagon, the TUF Brasil 3 participant asked for a rematch against Russian Gadzhmurad Antigulov, who submitted him in the UFC Sao Pauloin November 2016.
Pezão started the fight by surrounding his rival in the octagon, who responded with a straight left, knocking the Brazilian down, who lost his balance. With the fight back on its feet, Marcos bothered Kimball with strong kicks to the legs, but it was a right cross that knocked the American down. With Kimball practically surrendered, Pezão only needed to land a few more blows before the central referee stopped the fight and declared the Brazilian's victory.
Alexandre Pantoja debuts with narrow victory over Eric Shelton
Antoja (left) is very excited after achieving his first victory in the UFC. (Photo: Getty Images)
First Brazilian to enter the octagon at UFC Denver, the flyweight Alexandre pantoja made his debut with the organization on the right foot. After three rounds, he overcame fellow debutant Eric Shelton by split decision from the judges (29×28, 28×29, 29×28), to the delight of the former title challenger. Henry Cejudo, who was his coach on TUF 24 and was in the Rio native’s corner. At 26 years old, this is the 17th victory of Pantoja's career, while Shelton suffered his third setback as a professional.
The duel began with Shelton taking down the Brazilian early on, who had no difficulty getting up. Pantoja began to surround his opponent in the octagon, who was running away from the open fight, but responding with a counterattack. A jiu-jitsu specialist, Pantoja managed to take the fight to the cage and was stopped behind Shelton, who defended himself efficiently and managed to get back on his feet, after some submission attempts from the Brazilian. At the end of the round, the North American scored another takedown.
Shelton restarted the fight, landing a good right, and then looking for Pantoja's legs, trying to put the duel down, but the Brazilian defended himself well. The two fighters started a frank exchange, with Pantoja looking for knees, and then trying a guillotine, but Erick escaped and was on top. The fight returned to standing, but Alexandre quickly took it to the ground again, going to his rival's back, looking for a good position on the ground. In the final stretch, Pantoja put his arm around Shelton's neck, but the American managed to defend himself.
The two fighters returned to the decisive round at a slower pace, studying each other more. Shelton fired jabs into the void, while Pantoja tried to take him to the ground, but without success. Pantoja started to provoke Shelton, asking him to come up. In the final stretch, the duel continued without much action, provoking a demonstration from the public present, which led to some booing.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Average weight: Sam alvey defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Bantamweight: Raphael Assunção derrotou aljamain sterling by split decision (28×29, 29×28, 29×28)
Welterweight: Jingliang Li defeated Bobby Nash via technical knockout at 4:45 of R2
Light heavyweight: Jordan Johnson defeated Luiz Henrique Frankenstein by unanimous decision (30×27, 30×37, 30×27)
Middleweight: Eric Spicely defeated Alessio di chirico by submission (triangle) at 2m14s of R1
Light heavyweight: Marcos Rogério Pezão defeated Jeremy Kimball via TKO at 2:27 of R1
Flyweight: Alexandre pantoja derrotou Eric Shelton via split judge decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
Lightweight: Jason Gonzalez defeated JC Cottrell via submission at 3:54 of R1
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