UFC Fight Night 77: Belfort vs. Henderson III (11/7/2015) - Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil (Ginásio do Ibirapuera)

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

UFC Fight Night 77: Belfort vs. Henderson III 

November 7, 2015

Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil (Ginásio do Ibirapuera)

 

Vitor Belfort (185) vs. Dan Henderson (186) - Belfort, KO (head kick and punches), R1 (2:07)

Glover Teixeira (206) vs. Patrick Cummins (206) - Teixeira, TKO (referee stoppage), R2 (1:12)

Thomas Almeida (135) vs. Anthony Birchak (136) - Almeida, KO (punch), R1 (4:34)

Alex Oliveira (156) vs. Piotr Hallmann (155) - Oliveira, KO (punch), R3 (0:51)

Gilbert Burns (156) vs. Rashid Magomedov (155) - Magomedov, DEC (unanimous)

Fábio Maldonado (205) vs. Corey Anderson (205) - Anderson, DEC (unanimous)

 

Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card:

Gleison Tibau (155) vs. Abel Trujillo (156) - Trujillo, DEC (commission ruling due to failed drug test)

Yan Cabral (156) vs. Johnny Case (156) - Case, DEC (unanimous)

Clay Guida (146) vs. Thiago Tavares (146) - Tavares, SUB (guillotine choke), R1 (0:39)

Edmílson Souza (146) vs. Chas Skelly (146) - Skelly, SUB (rear naked choke), R2 (1:56)

 

Fight Pass Preliminary Card:

Viscardi Andrade (170) vs. Gasan Umalatov (170)  - Andrade, DEC (unanimous)

Pedro Munhoz (135) vs. Jimmie Rivera (136) - Rivera, DEC (split)

Bruno Rodrigues (134) vs. Matheus Nicolau Pereira (135) - Pereira, SUB (Japanese necktie), R3 (3:27)

 

Event Bonuses ($50,000):

Performance of the Night: Thiago Tavares

Performance of the Night: Alex Oliveira

Performance of the Night: Thomas Almeida

Performance of the Night: Vitor Belfort

 

Attendance: 10,628

Rating: 757,000 viewers

 

Cancelled Bouts:

Fábio Maldonado vs. Tom Lawlor - Injury to Lawlor (Head)

[Elsalvajeloco]

http://mmajunkie.com/2015/11/ufc-headliner-dan-henderson-finds-passed-out-drunk-guy-in-hotel-room?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Welcome to Sao Paulo, Dan.

[Elsalvajeloco]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7WgC49Ux0E

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGq9GiSJoKg

[TheVileOne]

This fight should get more attention considering you have two top 5 contenders in the main and co-main events.  People not giving any love to non-TRT Vitor and Henderson.

 

Abel Trujillo vs. Gleison Tibau is also a great fight, and it should be on the main card.  Also Thomas Almeida is a rising star and future title contender.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Almeida vs. Birchak would have been a five round fight on AXS TV if they won't under UFC contract. You can probably say the same for Munhoz vs. Rivera even though RFA never really ran shows up in the Northeast.

 

It's just weird seeing UFC run prospect vs. prospect all the time now, and somehow doing more appropriate feeder league bouts than the actual feeder leagues. This is coming after years of inconsistent booking of regional and/or up and coming fighters. Better late than never, I guess.

[Elsalvajeloco]

[Jiji]

He's as old as the dinosaurs, is that what I'm supposed to take away from that?

 

And those ain't no T-Rex arms, dammit!

[smitlick]

Yeah he posted saying I'm not quite that old and #tbt on Instagram.

[Elsalvajeloco]

[TheVileOne]

Not crazy about the main event match-up but there are some solid prospects and undefeated competitors up and down the card.  So looking forward to those.  

[Elsalvajeloco]

Kevin Souza is our new Anthony Njokuani. He will knock out most of the dudes who can't get him to the ground and look awful against virtually everyone else.

[Elsalvajeloco]

So yeah, Clay Guida should not be talking about fighting Conor McGregor at this point of his career.

[Jiji]

So, pro-wrestling's three count on sleepers should've been applied is what Stann is saying? Trujillo looked out from the over the shoulder of the ref angle, so I can see why he stopped it. Oops.

 

Also, Guida getting choked A ) with his arm in, B ) in the first minute of the fight, and C ) with his drawers down was all sorts of funny. 

 

One more thing, I hope Belfort KOs Henderson into retirement. I'm tired of seeing that guy wade forward with his head down looking for his one punch. He's devolved so badly.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Do they tell fighters not to close their eyes while in a choke? It seemed like some of the pressure was coming off the choke as soon as Keith Peterson stopped it. That was weird.

[Jiji]

Yeah, good question. Just as Peterson stopped it, Tibau transitioned to mount. That's a shame.

[TheVileOne]

Peterson definitely screwed up there, and Trujillo's camp should submit a complaint.

[Elsalvajeloco]

The last fight showcased why Burns can't really turn the corner. He admires himself too much as a striker without the wrestling ability to get it down to the mat when things go sour. He also doesn't the creativity of a Demian Maia to make up for that deficiency. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

Brutal, brutal knockout by Cowboy Oliveira.

[Elsalvajeloco]

So yeah, Thomas Almeida is the 2015 rookie of the year in MMA. No voting necessary.

[Jiji]

Best stanky legg since Rashad. Disgusting.

[TheVileOne]

A lot of people overlooked the level of talent and the high-level prospects that were performing on this card.  Thomas Almeida is freaking scary, and I really believe he will become UFC champion now.  He reminds me of Aldo in his WEC days.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Maybe you could argue that Jabouin and Pickett were a little past it when Thominhas beat them. You can't say that for Birchak. Part of being a rising fighter is seeing how you handle fighting other fighters on the rise. This was a stark difference from Durinho's performance against Rashid.

 

Cummins is a decent fighter, but he is a throwback to about 10 years ago when wrestlers in the heavier weight classes could just sit on your chest for 15 minutes. He isn't completely one dimensional, but he is too average in every other category with a slightly below average chin. In a firefight, he is mincemeat.

[Death From Above]

Oh my.

[Elsalvajeloco]

I would like see to Hendo take some time off and maybe fight one more time before hanging it up. Getting zapped like that ain't so great for the ole cranium.

[TheVileOne]

I just don't see the point.  I love Hendo and he's one of my all time favorites, but what's the point?  He's 45.  He's already taken a lot of punishment recently.  Also take into account punishment in the gym and with training.  Hendo could face lower level guys and maybe be a little more competitive, but why?  Look what happened to Wanderlei Silva when he should've just hanged it up when his legacy was intact.

 

Pat Cummins did a little better than I expected, but he's got no head movement at all.