Brazilian strawweight standouts Kalindra Faria and Hérica Tibúrcio each picked up key wins tonight at MMA Super Heroes 3 in São Paulo, Brazil. Faria submitted Argentinian prospect Laura Balin in the main event, while Tibúrcio outpointed Aline Sattelmayer in a featured main card matchup.
MMA Super Heroes 3 also included a one-night women’s strawweight tournament. Newcomer Renata Baldan outlasted two opponents to win the 115-pound grand prix. At Fatality Arena 6 in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Vanessa Porto and Aline “Hannibal” Sério were victorious on the main card.
Faria (14-3-1), competing for the second time in two weeks, was aggressive with power punches in the opening seconds of round one, but Balin (4-2-0) knocked her down with a counter left hook. Faria stood and secured a takedown near the cage, but Balin defended well from her back and Faria was unable to land anything damaging. In the later stages of the round, she passed to side control and rained down left hands. Balin rolled over and Faria continued to batter her with punches until the end of the round.
Early in round two, Faria scored another takedown, but she could not hold Balin down for long and the fighters traded knees in the clinch. Faria tripped Balin and landed in her guard. When Balin tried to scramble up to her feet, Faria took her back and locked on a rear-naked choke that forced Balin to submit at the 2:43 mark of round two. Faria has won ten straight fights and she is 2-0 at 115 pounds since moving down to the strawweight division earlier this month.
Tibúrcio (8-2-0) continued her climb up the strawweight rankings with a clear-cut victory tonight. In round one, Sattelmayer (5-5-0) threatened with two guillotine chokes, but Tibúrcio took her down on multiple occasions and nearly secured a standing rear-naked choke. She continued to dominate the grappling exchanges in the final ten minutes and also showcased her ever-improving striking skills by landing some nice leg kicks and combinations that kept Sattelmayer guessing.
After three rounds of action, all three judges scored the fight in favour of Tibúrcio, who took home the Unanimous Decision win. The 22-year-old submission specialist has won three straight fights and she recently signed on as a new addition to the Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight roster.
In tournament action, Baldan (2-0-0) kicked off her MMA career in a big way by winning the MMA Super Heroes women’s strawweight grand prix. Baldan went toe-to-toe with Bruna “Wing” Matos (0-2-0) in an action-packed striking battle during the semi-final round. Both women landed some hard shots on the feet, but Baldan did enough to win the exchanges and she walked away with a Unanimous Decision victory after two hard-fought rounds.
On the other side of the tournament bracket, Michele Angelo (2-2-0) put an emphatic end to her fight with Roberta “Marreta” Pereira da Silva Gomes (0-3-0) by knocking da Silva Gomes out with punches late in the second round. Angelo was able to control the fight from top position and she landed some nasty ground and pound. A big salvo of punches put da Silva Gomes out and Angelo was declared the winner by knockout at 4:13 of round two.
The tournament final matched Baldan and Angelo up in another entertaining slugfest. Just past the midway point of round one, Baldan rocked Angelo with punches and she trapped her in a Thai clinch. From there, Baldan scored with knee after knee as Angelo wilted against the cage. The referee allowed the fight to continue and Baldan unloaded with more knees until the bout was mercifully stopped at the 3:42 mark of the opening round. Baldan’s two victories tonight earned her the MMA Super Heroes women’s strawweight tournament title.
Earlier on the card, a strawweight tournament reserve bout between Graziele Ricotta (0-1-1) and Luciana Treze (0-0-1) ended in a Majority Draw after two rounds.
Elsewhere tonight, at Fatality Arena 6, Porto (17-6-0) posted a one-sided Unanimous Decision victory over Ana Maria “India” (5-5-0) in a rematch from May 2006. Porto started strong in tonight’s fight and she hurt Maria with punches throughout the opening round. Maria survived until the bell and both fighters were visibly fatigued heading into the middle stanza. The pace slowed down considerably in the final ten minutes, but Porto did enough to win both rounds and all three judges scored the fight in her favour. The former Invicta FC flyweight title challenger has won three of her past four fights.
The Fatality Arena card also featured a bout between Sério (8-5-0) and ultra late-replacement opponent Mayara Aguiar (0-3-0). Sério, who engaged in a competitive bout with Kalindra Faria two weeks ago, was set to face Bianca Daimoni tonight. However, Daimoni was removed from the card on mere hours’ notice and Aguiar stepped into the fight. She was no match for Sério, who overwhelmed her with big punches en route to a quick TKO victory one minute into the opening round.
(Photo Credit: Cristian Martins)