Summary
Luan Lacerda At the UFC weigh-in. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC
First Brazilian to step into the octagon this Saturday (14), Luan Lacerda He was defeated by Hecher Sosa by unanimous decision in a very hard-fought fight, valid for the bantamweight division (up to 61,2 kg). The setback represented the third failure in the Nova União representative's career in the world's biggest MMA event. On the other hand, the Spaniard made a strong debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after his performance in the Contender Series last September.
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Luan Lacerda and Hecher Sosa engaged in an intense duel.
The Brazilian spent the opening seconds feinting takedown attempts and attacking his opponent with powerful leg kicks. Sosa, on the other hand, tried to time his attacks to counter with powerful crosses. Lacerda managed to close the distance and take his opponent to the ground briefly. The Spaniard got back to his feet, and from that moment on, the fight became increasingly aggressive. Successful in the grappling, Luan secured another takedown and landed his best strike of the round with a strong knee to the head. Tenacious, Hecher followed up with a beautiful right straight. By the end of the round, both fighters had facial injuries.
The pace remained the same in the second round. Excessively aggressive, the Spaniard tried to hurt his opponent with cross punches. Intelligently, Lacerda began to work strong jabs to Hecher's nose. Motivated by Dedé Pederneiras, Luan tried to take his opponent down several times, also succeeding with knees to the midsection. On the other hand, Sosa didn't hesitate to make the fight increasingly violent, connecting with good straight punches and forcing the Brazilian to back up.
After a brief fall early in the third round in favor of Luan, the two resumed exchanging blows on their feet. More evasive, Sosa moved laterally and began landing precise strikes on his opponent, opening a cut above Lacerda's left eyebrow. Luan managed to take him down again, but was hit in the eye by a finger that went unnoticed by referee Keith Petterson, so the fight continued standing.
At the end of regulation time, Hecher Sosa was declared the winner, with two judges scoring it 30 to 27, while another saw it 29 to 28.
Venezuelan fighter defeats former rival in rematch at UFC Vegas 114
P. Rodriguez in victory against S. Hughes at UFC. (Photo: Instagram/UFC)
In the first fight of the night, Piera Rodriguez won Sam Hughes By unanimous decision in a rematch, in a strawweight bout (up to 52,1 kg). With the result, the Venezuelan achieved her third consecutive victory in the world's largest MMA organization and extended her advantage in the head-to-head record against the American, as she had also won their first fight in 2022. Hughes, on the other hand, lost again after defeating three opponents in a row.
Rodriguez led the stand-up action from the start of the fight. Much more comfortable exchanging blows on her feet, she dominated the center of the octagon and punished her rival with powerful combinations of crosses. Hughes, on the other hand, tried to curb her opponent's momentum with calf kicks, while Piera frequently switched stances to avoid further damage to her legs.
Rodriguez became more aggressive and delivered more violent strikes as the fight progressed. After building a good rhythm on her feet, she brilliantly secured a takedown from a body hold, gaining control on the ground for a few minutes. By the end of the second round, Hughes was already bleeding from the nose. In the final round, Piera incorporated the Muay Thai clinch into her game and began to trouble her opponent with good knees to the midsection, while remaining the aggressor throughout.
At the end of the 15-minute fight, all the judges scored all three rounds in favor of the Venezuelan fighter, with a final score of 30 to 27.
Read More about: Hecher Sosa, Luan Lacerda, Piera Rodriguez, Sam Hughes
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