UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo Results: Hendo vs Belfort 3
UFC Fight Night 77 otherwise known as UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo was headlined by a trilogy bout between Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson. Each had a win a piece the two legends going in looking to settle the score.
The event took place at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil and airs on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
The main event started off rather slow but it was Vitor Belfort who was able to capitalize off a head kick followed by strikes on the ground to come up with a first round win.
In the co-main event, wrestling standout Patrick Cummins entered the octagon with the highest taken down percentage rate in UFC history, however, although he took Brazilian, Glover Teixeira, down several times, it was not enough. The striking power of Teixeira would prove stronger and he TKO’d the American in the second round.
Alex Oliveira scored the first knockout on the night, or even TKO, after 10 fights. The rest of the bouts ended in either decision or submission so when the Brazilian ended the fight via strikes the crowd went crazy. His knockout was quickly followed up by rising star Thomas Almeida over Anthony Birchak.
Corey Anderson lived up to the hype as the biggest favorite on the card as he outpointed Fabio Maldonado all three rounds to earn a unanimous decision.
In the main preliminary bout Gleison Tibau recorded yet another victory however this time it was not without controversy. Tibau applied a choke on opponent, Abel Trujillo, and as Trujillo changed positions to escape the hold, referee Keith Peterson called an end to the contest a tad bit prematurely. While it is impossible to tell if Tibau would have adjusted and completed the maneuver, it was ended before that could be determined.
Thiago Tavares recorded the fastest submission win in UFC featherweight history after submitting Clay Guida with a guillotine choke at just 39 seconds into the first round.
Two bantamweight fighters each looked to appear in the UFC top 15 rankings of their division as Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera put on a war. In the first round, New Jersey native Rivera was all over Munhoz but the Brazilian was able to briefly stun Rivera with a knee. In the second round Rivera really opened up on Munhoz but Munhoz connected with a right and dropped Rivera. The momentum was starting to build for the Brazilian. The third round started off strong for Munhoz but Rivera was able to counter and finish strong. Great fight that ended in a decision with Rivera winning via split decision in a close bout. Now 18-1, Rivera should appear in the top 15 rankings come Monday morning.
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
- Vitor Belfort defeated Dan Henderson via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:07
- Glover Teixeira defeated Patrick Cummins via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:12
- Thomas Almeida defeated Anthony Birchak via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 4:24
- Alex Oliveira defeated Piotr Hallman via knockout (strikes) – Round 3, 0:51
- Rashid Magomedov defeated Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Corey Anderson defeated Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
- Gleison Tibau defeated Abel Trujillo via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:45
- Johnny Case defeated Yan Cabral via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Thiago Tavares defeated Clay Guida via submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 0:39
- Chas Skelly defeated Kevin Souza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:56
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Viscardi Andrade defeated Gasan Umalatov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jimmie Rivera defeated Pedro Munhoz via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matheus Nicolau defeated Bruno Korea via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 3:27
