Talita and Kalindra lose and Brazil opens 2018 with defeats in the UFC

K. Faria (left) ended up being surpassed by J. Eye (right) (Photo: Reproduction Facebook ufc)

If the Brazilian Chris Cyborg ended 2017 with a flourish for Brazil, Kalindra Faria and Talita Bernardo opened the new year on the wrong foot. The two Brazilian representatives in the first Ultimate event of the year, UFC St. Louis this Sunday (14), were defeated in their respective fights. Kalindra played hard, but ended up losing to Jessica Eye, while Talita ended up being dominated by Irene aldana – both setbacks were by decision.

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In addition to the fights between the Brazilians, the UFC St. Louis preliminary card was marked by excellent performances from Kyung Ho Kang and Marco Polo Reyes. “Mr. Perfect” resisted Guido Canetti's aggression and managed to submit the Argentine in the first round with a triangle from the guard. Reyes took down Matt frevola with a straight right in the first UFC knockout of the year.

THE FIGHTS

Kalindra was the first Brazilian to step into the UFC Octagon in 2018 and showed improvement over her loss to Mara Romero Borella. However, the Brazilian made critical mistakes from the second round onwards. After a first round where she had an advantage on her feet, and landed a hard kick on the American, who spent the rest of the round trying to finish her, Faria ended up falling on the bottom at the beginning of the middle round and stayed there for almost five minutes.

In the last round, the Brazilian started aggressively, but ended up being pulled to the ground again after good takedown attacks from Eye. Kalindra still got up and continued landing good blows, but was taken down again and two of the three judges gave victory to the North American. .

In the fight between Talita Bernardo and Irene aldana, the Mexican showed all her standing skills, using her strength and wingspan to keep the Brazilian at bay and score until the decision. Aldana used jabs and straight shots well, and remained calm until Talita put the fight on the ground in the second round. In the end, she came close to a knockout, but ended up getting her first UFC victory by decision.

UFC ST. PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS LOUIS

Welterweight: James Krause defeated Alex White via unanimous decision (3x 29-28)

Bantamweight: Irene aldana derrotou Talita Bernardo by unanimous decision (3x 30-27)

Lightweight: Marco Polo Reyes defeated Matt frevola by knockout 1m from R1

Bantamweight: Kyung Ho Kang defeated Guido Canetti via submission (triangle) at 4m53s of R1

Fly weight: Jessica Eye derrotou Kalindra Faria by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Straw weight: JJ Aldrich defeated Danielle Taylor by unanimous decision (3x 29-28)

Featherweight: Mads Burnell defeated Michael Santiago by unanimous decision (3x 29-28)