UFC 134 Review: Back in Brazil for good

It may have taken more than a decade to bring the UFC back to Brazil but its return was a triumphant success on every level.

JOE

It may have taken more than a decade to bring the UFC back to Brazil but its return was a triumphant success on every level.

By Fergus Ryan

It seems all the efforts to hype up Mixed Martial Arts’ triumphant return to Brazil were worth it. The 14,000 tickets sold out in 74 minutes. UFC president Dana White estimates 30 million people in Brazil tuned in to watch UFC Rio. And once the action started the electric atmosphere in the HSBC Arena could be felt coming through the TV screen. All that was left was for the fighters to deliver some quality action and they did exactly that.

The opening fight set the bar high, with a Canadian (Yves Jabouin) and an American (Ian Loveland) putting on a barn burner in front of the frenzied Brazilian crowd. White commented in the aftermath that the noise generated for the opening fight was usually only heard for main events. Eight fights on the 12-fight card saw a Brazilian take on an overseas opponent, and all proved victorious except Luiz Cane who was beaten by a Bulgarian, Stanislav Nedkov. (Having reached the pinnacle of MMA achievement for his home country, however, Nedkov let down anyone viewing from Bulgaria as he spent the post-fight interviewing wiping his bloody nose in the Bulgarian flag.)

In a contender for KO of the Night, Erick Silva dropped Luis Ramos in spectacular fashion in the third fight on the card. This fight was a real showcase for Brazilian MMA. Both welterweights were representing some of the larger local MMA promotions – Silva as Jungle Fight champ and Ramos as Shooto Brazil champ. Also, Silva was cornered by Wallid Ismail, the first man to beat Royce Gracie in a BJJ match and one of the first truly professional MMA fighters in Brazil. Ramos came undone by an overhand right in less than a minute and put an exclamation mark on the victory with a wall walk somersault.

‘Knock-out of the Night’ went to a rejuvenated Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, considered a heavy underdog, for dispatching Brendan Schaub in just over three minutes. Fighting in an arena three miles from his house and one mile from his gym, Nogueira told us back in May how he was battling back from hip surgeries to be ready for UFC Rio to make his Brazilian debut. A left jab snapped Schaub’s head back allowing a straight right to send him canvas bound. Two more left-right combinations helped him on his way as Nogueira delivered the kill shot with Schaub lying prone on the canvas.

Edson Barbosa continued to gain traction in a tough lightweight division with a victory over gritty Brit, Ross Pearson, in the ‘Fight of the Night’. This decision was razor thin and without wanting to disparage Barbosa’s victory, it had a hometown feel about it. Barbosa clearly won the 2nd round with a knockdown but Pearson pressed and pressured in the 1st and 3rd landing more significant strikes.

In the most bizarre occurrence of the night, Rouismar Palhares nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Having dropped Dan Miller and followed up with strikes on the ground, Palhares figured he’d done enough and proceeded to climb the octagon wall to celebrate victory. Dumbstruck referee Herb Dean, like a fireman retrieving a cat, talked Palhares down and the action resumed. Miller dropped Palhares moments later and it looked like the strangest comeback story was being written. Palhares weathered the storm and went on to take the decision.

Ironically, in the land of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu there were no submissions on the night and therefore no resulting bonus.

In addition to impressing his home crowd Shogun Rua needed a big performance to shake off the ass-kicking he received at the hands of Jon Jones in losing his title back at UFC 128. Forrest Griffin needed a victory to prevent his career from drifting into limbo. In a throwback to his Pride days Rua met Griffin’s early assaults with like minded fury. Rua clipped Griffin and followed him to the floor with a hail of hammerfists. All done in under two minutes. At the post-fight press conference, though, it came to light that Griffin’s wife was going into labour as he was warming up, which can’t have made for good fight preparation.

Yushin Okami is the last man to beat Anderson Silva, albeit by disqualification in 2006. Much had been made of Okami teaming up with Chael Sonnen, the last man to really take a fight to Silva. But in reality no amount of pre-fight smoke and mirrors will take away from Anderson Silva being the best pound for pound MMA fighter the sport has yet seen. After a chess match in the 1st round, Silva came out fast in the 2nd looking to take the fight to Okami. Like in the Forrest Griffin fight, Silva stood in front of Okami and dropped his hands, daring his foe to throw his. Okami reacted but before his punch came close to landing he was on his ass, felled by a jab. Having let Okami up, Silva walked him down till Okami felt compelled to try and punch again but with the same results. This time Silva pounced and finished with ground and pound. A great ending for a great night of MMA.

UFC 134 results round-up:

– Yves Jabouin defeated Ian Loveland via split decision (27–30, 29–28, 29–28).

– Yuri Alcantara defeated Felipe Arantes via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28).

– Erick Silva defeated Luis Ramos via TKO (punches) at 0:40 of round 1.

– Raphael Assunção defeated Johnny Eduardo via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

– Paulo Thiago defeated David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

– Rousimar Palhares defeated Dan Miller via unanimous decision (29–27, 30–27, 30–25).

– Thiago Tavares defeated Spencer Fisher via TKO (punches) at 2:51 in round 2.

– Stanislav Nedkov defeated Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) at 4:20 of round 1.

– Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Brendan Schaub via KO (punches) at 3:09 of round 1.

– Edson Barboza defeated Ross Pearson via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).

– Maurício Rua defeated Forrest Griffin via TKO (punches) at 1:53 of round 1.