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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC ON FX 8: BELFORT VS. ROCKHOLD
MAY 18, 2013
LIVE FROM JORAGUA DO SUL, BRAZIL
=====Preliminary Card Quick Results=====
--Lucas Martins def. Jeremy Larsen via KO at :13 of the third round
--Jussier Formiga def. Chris Cariaso via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
--John Lineker def. Azamat Gashimov via TKO at 1:07 of the second round
--Fabio Maldonado def. Roger Hollett via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-27)
--Iuri Alcantara def. Iliarde Santos via TKO at 2:31 of the first round
--Paulo Thiago def. Michel Prazeres via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
--Gleison Tibau def. John Cholish via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:34 of the second round
--Francisco Trinaldo def. Mike Rio via submission (arm triangle choke) at 3:08 of the first round
--Nik Lentz def. Hacran Dias via unanimous decision (28-27, 29-28, 29-28)
=====FX Main Card=====
-Jon Anik and Kenny Florian welcome fans in to the broadcast breaking down tonight's main event and discussing the other fights on tonight's main card.
FIGHT ONE: RAFAEL NATAL VS. JOAO ZEFERINO (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE> Zeferino landed the first significant strike with an overhand right. Zeferino landed a couple more early strikes. He connected on a couple near the midway point in the round, then the two clinched. Natal went for a trip and Zeferino wound up on top. Natal went for a leg lock and Zeferino went for a heel hook. They each attacked for legs, and Zeferino held early control. Back to a leg lock from Zeferino, and they continued the battle of leg locks. Both again attacked for the leg lock before losing it. They were stood up from that position with 20 seconds left in the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Zeferino. The newcomer had a solid showing in that first round, and though both were attacking with holds, Zeferino gets the nod in that frame.
ROUND TWO: Natal landed a leg kick but ate a counter right from Zeferino early. Zeferino landed an overhand right. He got in with a left shortly behind that. Zeferino went for a takedown at the one minute mark but Natal popped to his feet and they clinched. They separated and not much happened in the next minute. Zeferino looked tired and Natal stuffed a takedown. Zeferino backed to guard and was forced to stand. Natal pressed and landed a right, and Zeferino fired back with a couple of strikes. Natal landed a hard left. Natal missed a spinning back fist. Zeferino flopped to his back after missing a move and Natal eventually got on top. Natal landed a few strikes from the top. He passed to half guard and closed out the round on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Natal. Zeferino left everything in the first round, and has to find a way to be competitive in the third.
ROUND THREE: Natal pressed in quickly to start the third. Zeferino landed a right early, but he still looked very tired after the first round. Natal landed a kick and took Zeferino's back standing. He landed a short flurry before separating. Natal landed a right. Zeferino caught a side kick and clinched, but then Natal took him down with a boy lock into half guard. Natal stayed active from the top. Zeferino tried to pop out to no avail. Natal passed to side contol. Natal passed to mount. Zeferino gave up his back briefly before rolling back through. Natal remained on the offensive on top, and conned looking for a better spot. Zeferino rode out to round's end, but it was Natal in complete control.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Natal. Controlled that one again.
WINNER: Natal via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Not anything special, but not a terrible fight. Zeferino was just not prepped from three week's notice for a UFC level fight. He was a step behind after a strong first round, and just didn't have the cardio to keep up, unfortunately.
FIGHT TWO: RAFAL DOS ANJOS VS. EVAN DUNHAM (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Dos Anjos threw an early head kick and a right shortly thereafter. Dos Anjos missed a left, but got in a knee behind it. Dunham landed a couple of strikes. They traded punches. Dos Anjos got in a nice body punch. Dunham landed a couple of jabs. Dos Anjos got in a nice overhand left. Dos Anjos barely missed a left. He got in a solid body shot. Dunhm connected on a few on a clinch. Dunham sent Dos Anjos on his back after a slip. Dunham held control from the top and tried to work patiently despite boos from the crowd. They were stood up with ten seconds left in the round and they exchanged strikes.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 dos Anjos. They traded offense in that round, and thought it was close, I think dos Anjos did just a little bit more.
ROUND TWO: Dunham ducked under an early strike and went for a takedown, but Dos Anjos responded with a choke attempt to get to his feet and separate. Dunham connected on a couple. Dos Anjos landed a solid hook to the body and then shot in. Dunham held him off. Dos Anjos landed a strike on the break. They traded strikes in the center. They did so again before the midway point of the round. Dos Anjos got cut open under the eye. They clinched briefly against the cage. They traded strikes in the center again. Dos Anjos landed a couppe and they each avoided counter strikes. They traded strikes again Dunham landed a nice knee. Solid fight.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dunham. Close fight thus fat. Both having their own moments of success thus far.
ROUND THREE: Dunham came out looking to swing, but dos Anjos avoided too much damage early. After another brief clinch they separated. The round slowed for the next minute. They traded strikes in the center. Dunham shot in and got stuffed. They traded strikes again. Dunham went for a headlock late in the round. They traded strikes late again. They each landed in a flurry at the end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 dos Anjos. Close round. Really could go either way out of a close round to end a close fight here.
WINNER: Dos Anjos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Solid, even fight. Two decent to really good fighters competed for three rounds of close action. Not much to say outside of that here.
FIGHT THREE: RONALDO "JACARE" SOUZA VS. CHRIS CAMOZZI (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Souza took the center and tried to close the distance early. Camozzi threw a couple of early strikes. Souza grabbed an early clinch, but Camozzi turned him around before they separated. Souza landed a solid strike, then scored his takedown. Souza worked from half guard. He landed some hard strikes from the top. Souza stood, then fought threw an upkick to get to side control. Camozzi tried to break loose but got caught in an omoplata and ended with Souza in side control. He got to an arm triangle, passed to the other side. and Camozzi went out. Damned impressive work.
WINNER: Souza via submission (arm triangle choke) at 3:37 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***) Jacare's so good with his submission game he can make something like that look easy. But that's not easy. It takes a special fighter to do to Chris Camozzi what was just done by Jacare. Absolutely sick work from the former Strikeforce Champ.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: VITOR BELFORT VS. LUKE ROCKHOLD (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Rockhold slipped early on a kick. He tried to shoot in and got stuffed. Belfort clinched and landed a couple of strikes as the crowd was firmly in his favor. Rockhold threw a few kicks. Belfort barely missed a couple of big strikes. Rockhold landed a decent counter. He landed a spinning kick to the body. Rockhold landed a nice left. Belfort landed a spinning back kick to the face! Rockhold went down and Belfort pounced with a bunch of strikes and Rockhold went out cold!
WINNER: Belfort via KO at 2:32 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***) That's one of the crazier knockouts you're ever going to see. Spinning back kick to the jaw connects flush, and there's just little to be said about it. That was fantastic, and insane, and still somewhat overshadowed by the TRT issue that will rightfully plague Belfort through this last stretch of his career.
-Thanks for joining us tonight, we'll have plenty to say about tonight's card as the week rolls on and more as we get into UFC 160 next weekend!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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