Summary
Pinto wins UFC fight. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/UFC
Third and last Brazilian to step into the world's most famous octagon in UFC London During the afternoon of this Saturday (21), Felipe 'Negão' Franco debuted with the wrong foot in the Ultimate by being defeated by Mario Pinto, in a duel valid for the heavyweight category (up to 120,2 kg). With the result, the Portuguese fighter maintained his undefeated record as a professional fighter and achieved his third consecutive victory in the organization.
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Felipe Negão defended several takedown attempts.
Mario Pinto 🇵🇹 (12-0) imposes a unanimous decision against Felipe Franco 🇧🇷 (10-2)#UFCLondon
pic.twitter.com/ELH6ZBh66r— MMA PROPAGANDE 👊🇫🇷 (@MMAPropagande) March 21, 2026
The Brazilian dominated the center of the octagon from the start, feinting takedown attempts and combining them with head punches. However, he struggled to establish a comfortable distance from the Portuguese fighter, who patiently worked his jab and tried to avoid Negão's attacks. The fighter from Bahia managed to stay safe for most of the first round, defending two takedown attempts and landing the best punch of the round.
The Portuguese fighter tried to take the fight to the ground again in the first minute of the second round, but both ended up exchanging blows in the clinch against the cage for a few moments. Despite subtle taunts from the Brazilian, Pinto kept looking for the takedown, so the duel acquired a slow pace. After much persistence, he managed to take the Bahian down, only for Franco to get back to his feet and the two spent the last 30 seconds exchanging light blows standing up.
Determined to level up, Pinto kept looking for a takedown in the third round, and early in the round, Franco attempted a sweep and used it to get back to his feet. Despite having a weight difference of more than 10 kg during the weigh-in, the Portuguese fighter couldn't impose himself physically as desired. In the final seconds of the fight, Negão landed a powerful knee strike to his opponent's chest, taking advantage of another failed takedown attempt.
At the end of the 15-minute fight, all judges scored it 29 to 28 in favor of Mario Pinto, who now has 12 wins as a professional.
Homeowner ruins debut of rival Patrício Pitbull
N. Wood fighting in UFC London. (Photo: Instagram/UFC)
In the penultimate preliminary fight, Nathaniel Wood Losene Keita defeated Losene by split decision, frustrating the Belgian's UFC debut in a fight valid for the featherweight category (up to 65,7 kg). A former champion in two different weight classes for Oktagon MMA, Keita was scheduled to face off against... Patrick Pitbull In the past, he had problems with weight cutting and withdrew from the fight. Meanwhile, the Englishman continued his upward trajectory and secured his fourth consecutive victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
With a lot of movement and stance switching, Keita was the more active fighter, using front kicks to the midsection and quick cross punches as counter-attacks. To slow down his opponent's movement, Wood spent a good part of the fight hammering his opponent's left leg with good calf kicks, in addition to dominating the center of the octagon.
As time went on, the Belgian adapted more and more to Wood's distance and tendencies, so much so that he was already landing the main blows of the fight in the final part of the second round, including a powerful right cross that hit the Briton behind the ear. Keita was even more aggressive in the third round, cornering his rival against the cage and advancing with combinations of strong punches, while also being counter-punched.
At the end of the 15 minutes, two judges scored 29 to 28 in favor of Wood, while the other judge saw Keita as the winner.
Read More about: Felipe Franco, Mario Pinto, UFC London
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