UFC FIGHT NIGHT FROM SAO PAULO BRAZIL

 

We head back to the birth country of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have some exciting fights out of Sao Paulo Brazil. The card will be broadcasted this week on the FS Brand. This card is pretty much Team Brazil vs World. Every fight has a Brazilian fighter in it, so they will have the home crowd advantage. We have some old school Brazilian Legends on this card, so I expect to see some fireworks tonight.

 

Fight Pass Prelims 6:30 PM

Livinha Souza 11-1 vs Alex Chambers 5-4

Livinha has two KO/TKO, seven submissions, and two decision wins. She has seven 1st round wins. Three wins have been decided in under a minute. She is a multi-time Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion, which she holds a black belt in both martial arts. She is also the former Invicta Strawweight champ.

Alex has two KO/TKO, two submissions, and one decision win. She has won three of her last six fights. Has three 1st round finishes. She was on Team Pettis on TUF 20. She holds a 3rd degree black belt in karate and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Livinha will push the pace and look to take the fight to the ground quickly. She will utilize both her Judo and Jiu Jitsu to keep control of Alex and look for a submission. Alex will need to keep the fight on her feet. She doesn’t have the ground game like her opponent does. Her best chance is to tap into her Karate and get a KO. In the end, I see Livinha just being too much for Alex and get another submission win.

Elizeu Zalaski dos Santos 19-5 vs Luigi Vendramini 8-0

Elizeu has thirteen KO/TKO, two submissions, and 4 decision wins. He has won nine of his last ten fights which include five in a row. He has an extensive background in Capoeira. He has three fight of the night bonuses.

Luigi has four KO/TKO and four submissions in his flawless record so far. This is his UFC Debut and not much is known about this young man. He does have a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Decent matchup. Elizeu has an excellent standup game. He will look to keep the fight standing and avoid the ground as much as possible. Luigi will need to take the fight to the ground as soon as he can and avoid staying in a striking contest with his opponent. In the end I see Elizeu with the win.

Thales Leites 27-9 vs Hector Lombard 34-9-1

Thales has four KO/TKO, fifteen submissions, and eight decisions. Has ten 1st round wins. Has won ten of his last fifteen fights. Has wins over Dean Lister, Jeremy Horn, and Ed Herman. He is one of two people ever to take Anderson Silva to five rounds in a fight. He holds a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Hector has twenty-two KO/TKO, four submissions, and eight decision wins. He is currently on a five-fight losing streak. He has wins over Jake Shields, Nate Marquardt, and Rousimar Palhares. Has a Black Belt in Judo and Jiu Jitsu. He was the former Bellator Middleweight Champ.

Should be a great fight. Both guys have been fighting for a very long time. Thales is a world class grappler and will look to take the fight to the ground. This is where he is most dangerous. Hector has tremendous KO power and will look to stay on his feet. Look for him to use his judo to get into some clinch work to strike. In the end I see this fight going the distance and the judges awarding the fight to Thales.

Mayra Bueno Silva 4-0 vs Gillian Robertson 5-2

Mayra has one KO/TKO, two submissions, and one decision win. She has three 1st round wins. This is her second UFC fight. She has Muay Thai experience and like to use a lot of clinch work to setup takedowns and strikes.

Gillian has four submission and one decision wins. Has won five of her last six fights. She has two 1st round wins. Was a member of Team Gaethje TUF 26. Has a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Will be a very good fight. Both fighters are well rounded. Mayra needs to use her clinch for strikes and try not to go to the ground unless she must. Her strength in this matchup is her striking. Gillian needs the fight on the ground as fast as possible. There she can control the tempo of the fight and work for a submission. In the end I see this going all three rounds and the judges giving the nod to Mayra.

Sergio Moraes 13-4-1 vs Ben Saunders 22-9-2

Sergio has one KO/TKO seven submissions and five decision wins. He is 7-1-1 in his last nine fights. Was a member of TUF Brazil Season 1. Is a three-time World Jiu Jitsu Champ. Defeated Kron Gracie (Rickson’s son) in 2008 World Jiu Jitsu Championship. Has a Muay Thai background as well. He holds wins over Davi Ramos, and Zak Ottow. He has one submission of the night bonus.

Ben has eleven KO/TKO, six submissions, and five decision wins. He has twelve 1st round wins. Has won six of his last nine fights. Has a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu. Has wins over Joe Riggs, Court McGee, and Jake Ellenberger. He has two performance of the night and one fight of the night bonuses.

This fight will be explosive. Could easily be on the main card. Both have incredible ground games. Sergio will need to also use Muay Thai to break his opponent down. Ben needs to push the pace and keep heavy pressure on Sergio. This fight will most likely be contested on the ground and Saunders will come out with another win.

 

PRELIMS 8:30 PM

Augusto Sakai 10-1-1 vs Chase Sherman 11-5

Augusto has nine KO/TKO and one decision wins. He has five 1st round wins. He has a Brown Belt in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. His only loss is against veteran Chieck Kongo.

Chase has ten KO/TKO and one decision wins. He has won six of his last ten. He has nine 1st round wins. Has a catch wrestling background. Has one performance of the night bonus.

This is a striker vs striker fight. Augusto needs to use some clinch work to wear down his opponent before he takes it to the ground. Chase will try and stay standing and throw big bombs to look for another KO. In the end Augusto will come out with a KO win.

Luis Henrique 10-4 vs Ryan Spann 14-5

Luis has three KO/TKO four submissions and three decision wins. He has three 1st round wins. Has won eight of his last eleven fights. He is a Brazilian State Champ in Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. He is very well rounded.

Ryan has three KO/TKO, ten submissions and one decision win. He is on a four-fight win streak. He has eleven 1st round wins. He likes to submit his opponents with guillotines.

Another great matchup for both fighters. Very evenly matched so it should be very interesting. Luis needs to use his Muay Thai clinch work early and start throwing knees and elbows. Ryan will need to take it to the ground and apply a lot of top pressure on his opponent. If he is on top, he has a great shot of winning the fight. He needs to control and push the pace. In the end I see Luis out on top with another win due to KO.

Francisco Trinaldo 22-6 vs Evan Dunham 10-7-1

Francisco has seven KO/TKO, five submissions, and ten decision wins. He has seven 1st round wins. Has won eight of his last 10 fights. He is a former kickboxing champion. He has wins over Jim Miller and Paul Felder. He has lots of KO power. He has one fight of the night bonus.

Evan has three KO/TKO six submissions and one decision wins. He has four 1st round wins. He has a black belt in Jiu Jitsu. He has wins over Nik Lentz and Joe Lauzon. He has four fight of the night and one submission of the night bonuses.

Will be a good fight. Francisco will push the pace and use a lot of kicks. Evan needs to quickly get the fight to the ground to avoid and damage standing. In the end Francisco will come out with another win.

Charles Oliveira 23-8 vs Christos Giagos 15-6

Charles has six KO/TKO fifteen submissions, and two decision wins. He has won nine of his last fifteen fights. Ten of his last eleven wins were by submission. He has a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. He has wins over Myles Jury, Nik Lentz, and Jeremy Stephens. He has three fight of the night, three submission of the night and five performance of the night bonuses.

Christos has seven KO/TKO, three submissions, and five decision wins. He has four 1st round wins. Has won four of his last five fights. He has a wrestling background.

This should be a decent fight. Charles has so much octagon experience that will help him in this fight. Look for him to take the fight to the ground and work for a submission. Christos needs the fight to stay on its feet. He doesn’t have the grappling experience to be on the bottom with a tough veteran like Charles. When the dust settles, Charles out on top with another submission win.

 

MAIN CARD - 10:30 PM

Randa Markos 8-7 vs Marina Rodriquez 10-0

Randa has three submission and five decision wins. She has two 1st round wins. Was a member of Team Pettis on TUF 20. Has a wrestling background and love to use ground and pound. She has wins over Carla Esparaza and Aisling Daly.

Marina has five KO/TKO one submission, and four decision wins. This is her UFC Debut and not much is known. She has a Muay Thai background and like the clinch.

Randa will need to get the fight to the ground to avoid the Muay Thai strikes from her opponent. She needs to out wrestle her opponent to get a win. Marina needs to push the pace with striking. She can’t let the fight go to the ground. In the end Marina will continue her winning ways with another KO.

Renan Barao 36-6 vs Andre Ewell 13-4

Renan has eight KO/TKO fifteen submissions, and thirteen submission wins. He is the former Bantamweight Champ. He has wins over Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland, and Scott Jorgensen. He has excellent boxing abilities as well as Jiu jitsu. His takedown defense is 95%. He is looking to get back on top of the division. He has one performance of the night, three fight of the night, one knockout of the night, and one submission of the night bonuses.

Andre has seven KO/TKO, four submissions, and two decision wins. He has eight 1st round wins. Five of those wins occurred in less than a minute. He is on a four-fight win streak. He has a boxing background.

Great opportunity for the up and coming Andre to go against a former champ. But I see this fight being short and the former champ dominating his opponent and getting a win.

Sam Alvey 33-10 vs Antonio Nogueira 22-7

Sam has nineteen KO/TKO, three submission, and nine decision wins. He has fourteen 1st round wins. Has won seven of this last nine fights. Has a wrestling background and has punching power. Has wins over Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt, and Kevin Casey. He has one performance of the night bonus.

Antonio has seven KO/TKO, six submissions, and nine decision wins. He is a World Jiu Jitsu Champion and has a Judo background as well. He holds a black belt in both styles. He has wins over Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz, and Dan Henderson. He had a legendary fight in Pride with Mauricio Shogun Rua in which he lost after 3 rounds by way of judges. He has been a legend in the MMA world. This is his first fight in almost two years.

Sam will nee to push the pace. His opponent will have some ring rust plus he is older. Antonio gets better in the latter rounds if he can control the fight. I foresee a lot of big bombs being thrown. In the end this will go the distance and the win will go to Nogueira.

Alex Oliveira 18-4-1 vs Carlo Pedersoli 11-1

Alex has eleven KO/TKO four submissions and three decision wins. He has nine 1st round wins. He has won eight of his last eleven. He has excellent Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. He has a win over Carlos Condit. Wears a cowboy hat to the ring. He used to be a bull rider before becoming a fighter.

Carlo has three KO/TKO four submissions and four decision wins. He is currently on an eight-fight win streak. He holds a brown belt in Judo and Jiu Jitsu.

Will be an interesting fight as far as styles go. Alex will try and keep it standing but at the same time avoid any clinch work to not get into a judo contest with his opponent. Carlo needs the fight to hit the ground quickly. He doesn’t have the standup abilities to keep the fight on his feet. In the end I see the “Cowboy” Alex with a win.

 

MAIN EVENT

Thiago Santos 18-6 vs Eryk Anders 11-1

Thiago has twelve KO/TKO, one submission and five decision wins. He has won nine of his last twelve fights. He has eight 1st round wins. Was on Team Werdum on TUF Brazil 2. Former Muay Thai Champ. Has devasting kicks and high head kicks. This is his first fight at light heavy.

Eryk has seven KO/TKO one submission, and three decision wins. He has six 1st round wins. Was a member of the 2009 NCAAF Alabama Championship team. Purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. No-Gi Pans silver and bronze medalist. Has wins over Tim Williams and Rafael Natal.

Going to be a very good possibly five round fight. Both are well matched with each other. Thiago has an advantage with his extensive Muay Thai experience. He will look to keep the fight standing and wear down Eryk with leg kicks. Eryk needs to avoid getting into a striking war with Thiago. He just wont win. He needs to take the fight to the ground quickly and use some ground and pound. I think we will see an upset tonight and Eryk will win via judge’s decision.

Example Lineups

CASH

  

GPP

 

SOUZA

$9,600

 

MORAES

$9,100

A OLIVEIRA

$9,300

 

TIRNALDO

$8,900

LEITES

$7,800

 

BARAO

$8,500

NOGEIRIA

$7,000

 

SHERMAN

$7,400

RODRIGUEZ

$8,200

 

VENDRAMINI

$6,700

ANDERS

$7,600

 

SPANN

$8,700