Shogun knocked out Villante in the third round. (Photo: Buda Mendes / UFC)
Aggressive from start to finish, Mauritius Shogun had an impeccable performance at UFC Fortaleza, held this Saturday (11), at the Centro de Formação Olímpica do Nordeste. After swinging Gian Villante Several times in the first two rounds, the former light heavyweight champion settled the bill with a technical knockout in the third round, to the delight of the audience present. With the positive result, Shogun achieves, for the first time in Ultimate, a streak of three consecutive victories. Number 6 in the category ranking, the Brazilian can once again dream of the top of the category.
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The fight
Shogun started the fight imposing his aggressive muay thay, throwing good blows at Villante, who felt it. The American, however, responded with a good straight right, which rocked the Brazilian. Despite the scare, Maurício, 'pushed' by the fans, once again attacked his rival, who was trying to surprise on the counterattack. Shogun, once again, landed a great sequence of blows, causing Villante to bend his knees. Despite his superiority, the Brazilian was unable to define the fight before the horn sounded.
Maurício returned for the second round with the same aggressive stance, exchanging punches at close range with Gian. After a few moments of study on both sides, Villante landed a good left cross on his opponent, who stepped back. Shogun continued to press and threw good combinations, but Villante offered danger with counterattacks. The Brazilian, once again, shook his rival, who lost his balance and fell, but soon got back on his feet. The duel continued in a warm manner until the end of the round.
In the decisive stage, the scenario was repeated. Shogun continued taking actions, but this time with more forcefulness. Precisely, the Brazilian landed a powerful direct shot at Villante, who felt it and became drugged. That was the Brazilian's cue to attack his opponent and unleash a barrage of blows, forcing Mario Yamasaki to stop the fight.
Edson Barboza delivers brutal knockout to Beneil Dariush
Barboza (right) knocked out Dariush (left) in the second round. (Photo: Buda Mendes / UFC)
Brutal! This way, the knockout applied by Edson Barboza em Beneil Dariush, in the second round of the fight. After being pressured by his rival throughout the first round and a good part of the second, the Brazilian showed all his rich arsenal of strikes on the feet and threw a beautiful knee out of the hat to secure his third consecutive victory in the lightweight division. What's more, he is placing himself ever closer to being the next challenger for the division's belt.
The two fighters began exchanging strong low kicks. After striking up a stand-up, Dariush began to surround the Brazilian in the octagon, but was surprised with a beautiful high kick. The blow did not faze the Iranian, who continued to take the initiative in the fight, connecting with ball blows on the Brazilian. Barboza continued to expose himself little, only counterattacking his rival, who insisted with low kicks and to the waist. In the final seconds, it was the Brazilian's turn to fire a strong kick at Beneil's waist, who responded with a spinning punch.
The fight resumed aggressively in the second round, with the two exchanging punches at close range. The Brazilian insisted on moving, trying to find the best angle to strike, but without success. Dariush went for the Brazilian's legs, who made a good defense and kept the fight standing. Dariush, in turn, continued to strike the Brazilian with good combinations of kicks and punches, opening a bleed on Edson's face. However, Barboza showed why he is one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC. After Beneil attempted the takedown, Edson applied a beautiful and violent flying knee to the Iranian's chin, who fell unconscious.
Ray Borg has an intelligent performance and beats Jussier Formiga on points
Borg (right) surpassed Formiga (left) by points (Photo: Buda Mendes/UFC)
In a duel that could have defined the next challenger for the flyweight belt, best for the young Ray Borg, who defeated Jussier formiga by unanimous decision of the judges (triple 29×28) and achieved the biggest victory of his career. Now, the Brazilian has five positive results and four negative results in the company, while Borg has achieved his fifth triumph in seven fights.
Formiga started throwing some blows at Borg, who was just moving around the octagon. The Brazilian landed an illegal kick on his rival, forcing Mario Yamasaki to interrupt for a few seconds. With the fight back, Jussier took Ray to the fence and started to apply pressure, without much effectiveness. Borg managed to get out of the clinch and the fight returned to the center of the octagon, with the two studying each other. In the final seconds, Borg landed a good cross on the Brazilian, who responded with a spinning elbow.
The two athletes came back looking for more fight in the second stage, including flying knees fired by the American. Borg tried to take him down, but Formiga defended himself well with the support of the fence. After the two locked in a clinch, the referee returned the fight to the center of the octagon. Borg continued to release good combinations, while the Brazilian tried to surprise with the counterattack. Jussier landed a strong kick on his rival's leg, who hit him.
Borg returned for the decisive round trying to take the fight to the ground, but Formiga defended himself correctly and almost caught his opponent's back, who managed to get up. Ray applied a takedown, but ended up being surprised by Jussier, who swept and went to the back, immediately closing the lock on the waist line. Intelligently, Borg got rid of the position, swept and went into the opponent's guard. From above, the American threw strong elbows, opening a cut on Formiga's eyebrow. However, he no longer had time to work.
Bethe gets choked at the end, but draws with Marion Reneau
Fight between Bethe and Reneau ended in a draw (Photo: Buda Mendes / UFC)
In the only women's clash of the night, there was no winner. After three closely contested rounds, the duel between Bethe 'Pitbull' Correia and Marion Reneau ended in a majority draw (27×29, 28×28, 28×28). The unusual result came after the Brazilian won the first two rounds, but was completely dominated in the last. With the result, the two athletes remain parked in the middle of the women's bantamweight table.
The confrontation started with a lot of study and little action in the center of the cage. Little by little, the two athletes began to throw some blows, but without much effectiveness. After Marion landed a good kick to the waist, Bethe clinched and took her to the fence. The fight remained truncated, with the Brazilian pressing against the fence. Back in the center of the octagon, the two attempted a stand-up, but Correia took advantage of an opening and scored a takedown in the final seconds of the session.
The second stage returned at a slow pace, just like the first. Bethe, however, began to show more aggression and tried some combinations of punches, which landed cleanly on Marion's face. With each successful blow from the Brazilian, the audience rose to their feet. Aware of the disadvantage, Reneau started to attack more, but was taken down again by Pitbull. In the American's guard, Bethe struck in a less forceful way, but continued to control until the horn sounded.
The decisive round started aggressively. Bethe landed a good straight shot on Renau, who responded with a great combination of punches, which shook the Brazilian. Drogue, Correia, went for the opponent's legs, who defended herself and fell on top. After sweeping and landing in mount, Reneau began to punish her rival, who was trying to defend herself in every possible way. When trying to get up, Bethe gave her back to her opponent, who closed the triangle around her waist and went for the rear naked choke. “Pushed” by the fans, Bethe showed enormous heart and held on until the end of the round, to the delight of the audience present at the Northeast Olympic Training Center.
Hold on, pawn! Alex Cowboy submits Tim Means in rematch
Cowboy defeated Means in the rematch. (Photo: Buda Mendes / UFC)
After the first meeting between Alex Cowboy e Tim means ended without result, due to illegal blows applied by the North American, the Brazilian left no doubt about his superiority in the rematch and submitted his rival with a rear naked choke at 2:51 of the second round. With the triumph, Cowboy added his sixth victory in nine fights in Ultimate, while Means suffered his fifth defeat in 14 duels in the franchise.
Cowboy started throwing good blows at Means, who defended himself and took the fight to the fence, but was taken down by the Brazilian. On top, Alex had to worry about not falling under his rival's submissions, who were trying to attack from below. The fight returned to standing, with a lot of changing positions in the clinch, until the Brazilian applied another beautiful takedown on Tim, who hit the ground and got up, but was taken down again. Tim quickly got up, and Cowboy, again, tried to take the takedown, but he mistimed it and fell to the bottom until the end of the round.
At the beginning of the second round, Cowboy tried to hug Means, who denied it. After defending a takedown, the Brazilian took the fight to the fence. After a lot of strength from both sides in the clinch, Alex took him down again, but was unable to work on top. As Means tried to get up, Cowboy tried to return the fight to the ground. And successfully. On the ground, Cowboy quickly went to his back and closed the padlock. With great calm and class, he secured the rear naked choke and forced Means to take three taps.
Light Heavyweight: Mauritius Shogun derrotou Gian Villante by technical knockout at 4:1 of R3
Lightweight: Edson Barboza derrotou Beneil Dariush by knockout at 1m19s of R2
Flyweight: Ray Borg defeated Jussier formiga by unanimous decision of the judges (triple 29×28)
Bantamweight: Beth Pitbull and Marion Reneau finished with a majority draw (27×29, 28×28, 28×28)
Welterweight Weight: Alex Cowboy derrotou Tim means via submission (rear naked choke) at 2m51s of R2
PRELIMINARY CARD
Lightweight: Kevin Lee derrotou Francisco Massaranduba via submission (rear naked choke) at 1m42 of R2
Welterweight Weight: Serginho Moraes derrotou Davi ramos by unanimous decision of the judges (triple 30×27)
Bantamweight: Joe Soto defeated Rani Yaya by unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×27, 29×27)
Lightweight: Michel Tractor defeated Josh Burkman via submission (north-south choke) at 1:42 of R1
Featherweight: Jeremy Kenned defeated Ron Jason by unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×27)
Average weight: Paulo borrachinha defeated Garreth McLellan via TKO at 1:17 of R1
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