The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Geraldo José de Almeida State Gymnasium in São Paulo, Brazil tonight for UFC Fight Night 77: “Belfort vs Henderson 3.” The event was headlined by a middleweight trilogy fight between Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort and Dan “Hendo” Henderson.
Also on the card, former UFC title challenger Glover Teixeira met Patrick “Durkin” Cummins in the light heavyweight co-feature. Thomas “Thominhas” Almeida squared off against Anthony “El Toro” Birchak in bantamweight action. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s main card.
Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort vs Dan “Hendo” Henderson
Round 1:
The fighters cautiously circled throughout the opening 90 seconds and Henderson threw occasional leg kicks. Belfort finally landed his first strike, a head kick, that dazed and dropped Henderson. Belfort followed with more punches on the ground and Henderson appeared to briefly lose consciousness before the fight was waved off.
Winner: Vitor Belfort by TKO (Head Kick & Punches) at 2:07 of round one. He improves to 25-11-0.
Glover Teixeira vs Patrick “Durkin” Cummins
Round 1:
Cummins took Teixeira down early on and fought off a guillotine choke attempt, but Teixeira quickly scrambled back to his feet. The process repeated itself and the fight returned to the feet again. One-two combinations landed for both men and Teixeira backed Cummins up with left hooks. Cummins clinched and dragged Teixeira down, but Teixeira shook him off and stood up. He rocked Cummins with punches, but Cummins recovered and secured a key takedown into half-guard. Teixeira stood and Cummins cut him with three uppercuts. Teixeira badly hurt him with punches before the bell. 10-9 Teixeira.
Round 2:
Teixeira pressed forward with hooks and a head kick in round two. A bloodied Cummins scored a partial takedown, but Teixeira easily got back to his feet. He battered Cummins with huge punches that caused Cummins to wilt against the cage and referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.
Winner: Glover Teixeira by TKO (Punches) at 1:12 of round two. He improves to 24-4-0.
Thomas “Thominhas” Almeida vs Anthony “El Toro” Birchak
Round 1:
Almeida fought off an early takedown attempt and countered a leg kick with a series of punches. Birchak countered with a big flurry and a knee that backed Almeida up. Almeida regained his footing and rocked Birchak with a looping hook. Birchak recovered and scored a brief takedown. Back on the feet, Almeida remained effective with combinations. Birchak kicked at his lead leg and tried for another takedown. Almeida stunned him with a right cross and followed with more big punches. A final right hand dropped an unconscious Birchak in a folded heap against the cage.
Winner: Thomas Almeida by KO (Punches) at 4:24 of round one. He improves to 21-0-0.
Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira vs Piotr “Pletwal” Hallmann
Round 1:
Oliveira opened the fight with a body kick and a series of uppercuts that opened a cut above Hallmann’s left eye. He continued to punish Hallmann with punches and jumped in with a knee to the jaw. Oliveira held Hallmann against the fence and peppered him with punches and knees. Hallmann connected with occasional left hooks in return, but Oliveira kept the pressure on with uppercuts. 10-9 Oliveira.
Round 2:
Looping punches were exchanged in round two and Oliveira forced Hallmann to retreat by landing a knee and three right hands. Hallmann rushed forward and took Oliveira down. He punched from the top and looked to isolate Oliveira’s left arm behind his back. Referee Mario Yamasaki stood the fighters up for no reason, but Hallmann quickly took Oliveira back down and he moved to side control. Oliveira got back to half-guard, but Hallmann landed short elbows until the end of the round. 10-9 Hallmann.
Round 3:
The final round began with Oliveira landing a knee and a right hook. Hallmann answered with a combination, but Oliveira floored him with a massive right hand that left Hallmann unconscious on the mat.
Winner: Alex Oliveira by KO (Punch) at 0:51 of round three. He improves to 13-3-1, 1 NC.
Rashid “Goretz” Magomedov vs Gilbert “Durinho” Burns
Round 1:
Magomedov scored with a nice right hand early on, but Burns countered with a pair of takedowns near the cage. Magomedov escaped to his feet and landed a four-punch flurry. He followed with kicks to the liver and head. Magomedov ducked under hooks from Burns and countered with punch-kick combinations. More hard punches and another body kick landed for Magomedov late in the round. 10-9 Magomedov.
Round 2:
Burns tried for a takedown in the second round, but Magomedov stuffed it and the fighters clinched against the fence. Magomedov caught a kick and dumped Burns to the mat, but allowed him to stand. Magomedov rocked him with a right hand to the temple and followed with more punches. He dropped Burns and threw more punches while standing over him. Magomedov let Burns stand up again and hurt him with another right cross. 10-9 Magomedov, if not a 10-8.
Round 3:
The tentative final round began with an exchange of body kicks and Magomedov countered a jumping knee with two looping hooks. Burns clinched in search of a takedown, but Magomedov remained on his feet. He dumped Burns to the mat, then backed away and beckoned for him to stand. Burns kicked to the body and Magomedov replied with a liver kick in return. Burns landed a knee and Magomedov finished the round with body kicks. 10-9 Magomedov.
Winner: Rashid Magomedov by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 19-1-0.
Corey “Beastin’ 25/8” Anderson vs Fabio “Caipira de Aço” Maldonado
Round 1:
After an early exchange of punches, Anderson took Maldonado down and landed right hands from the top. Maldonado scrambled up to his feet and Anderson scored with kicks to the body. Both men landed looping hooks in close against the cage until Anderson backed away. Maldonado landed punches to the body and Anderson countered with a takedown. He punished Maldonado with punches to the temples and knees to the body before the bell. 10-9 Anderson.
Round 2:
Maldonado swarmed on Anderson with punches right away in the second round and Anderson was forced to clinch in defence. He briefly dragged Maldonado down, but could not keep him there for long. Punches were exchanged in a clinch and Anderson eventually gave up on his takedown attempts. Both men connected with right hooks and Anderson took Maldonado down. He struck from the top with elbows and landed a knee to the body after Maldonado got back to his feet. 10-9 Anderson.
Round 3:
Maldonado landed left hooks to the body and head in round three until Anderson took him down into side control. Maldonado stood and Anderson hurt him with a knee to the body. He followed with a solid combination of left and right hooks. A big right hand scored for Anderson and he backed Maldonado up against the fence. He took Maldonado down one final time before the end of the fight. 10-9 Anderson.
Winner: Corey Anderson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 7-1-0.
Undercard Fights:
– Gleison Tibau defeated Abel “Killa” Trujillo by Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:45 of round one. He improves to 34-11-0 with the win.
– Johnny “Hollywood” Case defeated Yan Cabral by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 22-4-0 with the win.
– Thiago Tavares defeated Clay “The Carpenter” Guida by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:39 of round one. He improves to 20-6-1 with the win.
– Chas “The Scrapper” Skelly defeated Edimilson “Kevin” Souza by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:56 of round two. He improves to 15-1-0 with the win.
– Viscardi Andrade defeated Gasan “Cobra” Umalatov by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 18-6-0 with the win.
– Jimmie “El Terror” Rivera defeated Pedro “The Young Punisher” Munhoz by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 18-1-0 with the win.
– Matheus Nicolau Pereira defeated Bruno “Korea” Rodrigues by Submission (Japanese Necktie) at 3:27 of round three. He improves to 11-1-1 with the win.