Thiago Marreta shines with knockout in UFC Halifax preliminaries

T. Marreta won again after two defeats (PHOTO: Josh Hedges/Getty Images)

The Brazilian Thiago Marreta shone on the UFC Halifax preliminary card, an event held this Sunday (19), in Canada. In a great fight against Welshman Jack Marshman, the Brazilian suffered a knockdown in the first round, but came back strong and achieved a great technical knockout in the second round. The victory interrupted a negative sequence of two defeats and was dedicated to the children of the social project that Marreta runs in Cidade de Deus, a community in Rio de Janeiro.

See too

Anderson Silva's manager wants a super fight between Spider and GSP

Garbrandt hits back at Dillashaw: 'Fakeest person I know'

Bisping fires at Anderson Silva: 'He's tarnishing his legacy'

The fight

Under pressure due to two defeats, Marreta started nervously, hesitantly and Marshman's excellent boxing made the difference. Despite landing good shots from the start, the Brazilian ended up the victim of a sequence that almost knocked him out.

Thiago started the second round still groggy from the end of the first round. However, he got his head straight and, little by little, he got better. Even exchanging blows at close range against a better boxer, the Brazilian landed good blows until the magic touch came.

Marreta threw a round shot that went beyond Marshman's guard and the Welshman fell groggily. The Brazilian followed him and closed the account with sledgehammers, ending the negative streak on his record with another knockout victory in Ultimate.

Reginaldo Vieira x Aiemann Zahabi

Another Brazilian in action on the preliminary card, Reginaldo Vieira He also put on a show, but ended up leaving the Octagon defeated, losing the decision to Aiemann Zahabi. The two had a great fight, very competitive and full of twists and turns. In the end, Zahabi's hard blows were rated better by the side judges than Reginaldo's takedowns, who suffered his second consecutive defeat in Ultimate.

Without fighting since the middle of last year, Reginaldo started hesitantly, but in the second half of the first round he was already the more aggressive athlete, while karateka Zahabi was just waiting for a mistake to counterattack. And it came when the Brazilian advanced with his guard down and was almost knocked out. Even so, he managed a good takedown and spent precious time on top.

In the second and third rounds, Zahabi became more aggressive, only losing to Reginaldo in takedowns. In the end, the Brazilian managed a plastic takedown, but the Canadian soon got up and finished the fight on his feet. In the split decision, he gave Zahabi.

Other fights

The night started with a quick victory for Gerald meerschaert over Ryan Janes, by submission. The North American caught the Canadian in an armbar 1m34s into the fight. The former strawweight champion Carla esparza was also in action and was surprised by Randa markos, losing a balanced split decision.

In the last fight of the preliminary portion, another show from the Argentine Santiago Ponzinibbio. Showing a top-notch jab, “Gente Boa” made a target of Nordine Taleb's nose and won his fourth victory in a row, by unanimous decision and can now dream of entering the welterweight category rankings.

PRELIMINARY CARD – UFC HALIFAX

Welterweight Weight: Santiago Ponzinibbio beat Nordine Taleb by unanimous decision (3x 29-28)

Straw weight: Randa markos won Carla esparza by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight: Aiemann Zahabi won Reginaldo Vieira by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Average weight: Thiago Marreta beat Jack Mashman by technical knockout at 2:21 of R2

Average weight: Gerald meerschaert beat Ryan Janes via submission (armbar) at 1m34s of R1