A spectacular card concluded in Sao Paolo, Brazil this past weekend with the UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping. Despite a title shot looming with a win, Michael "The Count" Bisping (23-5) fell in astonishing fashion with a devastating head kick by Vitor Belfort (22-10) in the second round. This was the 15th knockout of Vitor's illustrious and storied career. Together with English Thom Burton we cover all of the action in our Getting Lucky MMA Podcast. Part 1: The Prelims http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQoCTTJU2A Part 2: The Main Card http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEou606Pnzs
Event Summary (E019): The Facebook card kicked off with a TUF Brazil alumnus, Francisco Trinaldo aka Massaranduba (12-2) dominating an over-matched and over-weight C. J. Keith (8-2). Trinaldo had the advantage in power and grappling as was evident with his two first round slams ending in a arm triangle in Round 1. C. J. Keith, coming off of two straight losses and missing weight by +1.5 pounds, will likely be cut from the promotion. The Fuel TV card had six fights, starting with a last minute replacement Ildemar Alcantara (17-5) earning a surprising upset victory over Wagner Prado (8-2-1) with a second round kneebar. Prado had early success with his straight right, but seemed to gas early and had little answer on the ground for Alcantara's BJJ. They were followed by BWs Yuri Alcantara (27-4, 1) earning a controversial No Contest over Pedro Nobre (14-1-2, 1 NC) after the referee stopped the bout on dubious strikes to the back of the head. Dana White apparently agreed and still awarded the younger Alcantara his win bonus. Edson Barboza (11-1) righted the ship with a dominant win over UFC newcomer Lucas Martins (12-1). Martins looked great in the smaller promotions, but against a dynamic striker with the pedigree of Barboza, he looked wild and out of his depth. Next, Diego Nunes (18-4) lost to wrestler Nik Lentz (22-6-2, 1) in a very one-sided affair that saw Nunes grounded repeatedly, breaking his will. In a change of script, the very next fight saw a Brazilian, Ronny Markes (14-1), out wrestle and grind American Andrew Craig (8-1) to a lopsided decision victory. Craig nearly pulled his third consecutive upset with a big punch at the end of the third, but was unable to finish. The last fight of the prelims was a barn burner as Godofredo "Pepey" Castro (9-1) outmatched the far more experienced Milton Vieira (13-8-2) with a SD by relying on his far more aggressive ground game and a beautiful reversal via kimura attempt that saw him take the mount and back for a decisive round 2. The main card started with Russian star Khabib Nurmagomedov (19-0) obliterating Thiago Tavares (17-5-1) at Lightweight with 15 unanswered elbows to the skull. It was another low point for the referees on the night, the same official that oversaw the questionable No Contest with Yuri Alcantara above. HW Gabriel Gonzaga (14-6) continued to rebuild his UFC career with a 2nd round guillotine choke over a statuesque Ben Rothwell (32-9). The co-main event earned Fight of the Night honors as C. B. Dollaway (13-4) slowly took control of the fight and earned a well deserved Split Decision over Daniel Sarafian (7-3). Dollaway surprised many by relying more on his hands and striking rather than his ASU wrestling base. The final fight ended with a highlight as Vitor Belfort pounced on a tentative Michael Bisping with multiple head kicks, finally ending the fight in the second round with savage ground and pound. After the fight, Vitor immediately issued a challenge for a Jon Jones rematch.