Raoni Barcelos showed that he definitely continues to evolve over time. The 38-year-old veteran entered the UFC Vegas 116, held this Saturday (25), and, after suffering a hard blow from Montel Jackson at the beginning of the duel, recovered and began to dominate his rival in the grappling, turning the fight around and winning by split decision.
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With the victory, Raoni Barcelos reached his 22nd career win, his fifth consecutive. Furthermore, the Brazilian is likely to enter the rankings in the next update, as Montel was defending the 14th position in the category.
Raoni Barcelos overcomes knockdown and imposes dominance in grappling.
In the opening seconds of the fight, Montel Jackson landed a powerful left hook that surprised the Brazilian, sending him to the ground. The American then pressed forward looking for the finish, but Raoni showed resilience by getting back to his feet and controlling the fight in the clinch.
After breaking free, Jackson landed some good strikes again, but ended up being taken down after an attempted kick. With little action on the ground, the fight returned to standing, until Barcelos applied another single leg takedown and finished the round threatening with a rear-naked choke.
In the second round, Raoni returned focused on closing the distance and avoiding his opponent's straight punches. Midway through the round, he managed to pressure Jackson against the cage and take the fight to the ground, but the American quickly got back up. In the final minute, Barcelos took him down again, achieved mount, and after Montel attempted to escape, took his back and locked in another rear-naked choke, saved by the bell.
In the third round, Raoni repeated the strategy and quickly sought a grappling match, taking the fight to the cage. Although Jackson managed to get back to his feet relatively easily at times, he began to retreat in the striking exchanges. In the final seconds, Barcelos again took his opponent's back and maintained control until the end, securing the victory by judges' decision.
Davey Grant wins stand-up battle and halts Adrian Luna's UFC Vegas 116 debut.
Davey Grant showed Adrian Luna Martinelli that it takes more than talent to triumph in the UFC. The veteran faced the Ecuadorian prospect on the main card of UFC Vegas 116, and after three rounds of intense striking that thrilled the crowd at the Apex, he emerged victorious by unanimous decision.
With the victory, Grant reached his 16th career win, his ninth in the UFC. Adrian Luna Martinelli, on the other hand, suffered his second professional defeat in his debut in the world's largest MMA organization.
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