Pitbull loses at UFC Russia (Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC)
Russia will not bring good memories for Brazilian athletes in 2018. After the football World Cup, Ceará Thiago Pitbull left the Eastern European country with the bitter taste of defeat. The fighter was in action on the main card of UFC Fight Night Moscow, held this Saturday afternoon (15), in the Russian capital, and fell to local Alexey Kunchenko in a unanimous decision from the judges (29-28, 30-27, 29- 28).
The result marked the second consecutive defeat for Pitbull, who is not experiencing the best moment of his career. He, who was once a challenger for the welterweight belt (up to 77,1kg), has recorded three losses in his last four appearances. On the other hand, Kunchenko maintains his unbeaten record in MMA with 19 wins in 19 fights.
The fight
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The fight between Pitbul and Kunchenko started off warmly, with both athletes waiting for the best moment to attack. The Brazilian worked with leg kicks, while the Russian tried to dominate the center of the octagon. Thiago used his movement well to launch his attacks, while Kunchenko tried to explode at the right moment. At the end of the partial, the host even put the Brazilian athlete against the bars, but Pitbull used good kicks to the body to get out of the difficult position.
In the second round, the fight continued to be studied, but with more blows connected. The athletes used medium-range kicks to attack, but none of the blows were blunt. In one of these attacks, Pitbull blocked his rival's kick with his shin and the Brazilian's member became quite swollen. Kunchenko once again left Pitbull in an uncomfortable position against the bars in some situations, but the Brazilian managed to escape with a side turn. At the end of the round, Thiago still landed an upper, which shook the Russian.
With the result of the fight open, the athletes returned for the third round ready to let the game go. Pitbull started better and connected good sequences of blows on the Russian. However, Kunchenko absolved the attacks and responded. He placed the Brazilian against the bars and for a few moments combined powerful punches against Thiago's head, who no longer had the same ability to move laterally. The Russian still managed a takedown, but Pitbull got up quickly and was hit again from a short distance. In the final seconds, the Tupiniquim athlete even managed to get out of the pressure, however, he no longer had the strength to attack his rival.
In the decision, the triumph went to the home owner, Alexey Kunchenko, unanimously (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).
UFC Moscow results
Main Card:
Heavyweight: Aleksei Oleinik submitted Mark Hunt with a rear naked choke at 4m26s of R1
Light Heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz finished Nikita Krylov with a katagatame 2m41s from R2
Heavyweight: Shamil Abdurakhimov defeated Andrei Arlovski in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Welterweight: Alexey Kunchenko defeated Thiago Pitbull in the unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Preliminary Card:
Middleweight: Khalid Murtazaliev defeated CB Dollaway via TKO 5m into R2
Bantamweight: Petr yan defeated Jin Soo Son via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight: Rustam Khabilov defeated Kajan Johnson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lightweight: Mairbek Taisumov defeated Desmond Green via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Light Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalayev derrotou Marcin Prachnio by knockout at 3m09s of R1
Middleweight: Jordan Johnson submitted Adam Yandiev with a choke 42 seconds into R2
Welterweight Weight: Ramazan Emeyev derrotou Stefan Sekulic in the unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili defeated Terrion Ware via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)
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