UFC Event

UFC 134 Results Recap: Raphael Assuncao vs. Johnny Eduardo

By Tim Burke@TB_Money Aug 28, 2011, 9:00pm EDT

Photo by Al Bello/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Brazilian veteran Raphael Assuncao was successful in his first fight at bantamweight, taking a unanimous decision over Johnny Eduardo in a fairly one-sided fight. The first round featured Assuncao attacking and Eduardo counterstriking until Assuncao got a takedown. They were stood up after a minute or so, and both mostly whiffed on strikes for the rest of the round. The second round didn't feature much action until the last 30 seconds, when Assucncao earned a takedown and quickly went for a choke attempt. The horn went before he could finish though.

Raphael because the counterfighter in the third, eventually earning a takedown and spending much of the round on top.Eduardo was just never able to get anything going, and Assuncao won a 30-27 decision on all three cards. This was the fourth fight on the Facebook portion of the UFC 134 broadcast.

What was the high spot of this fight?

It appears for a second that Assuncao was knocked down by an Eduardo shot in the third, but he quickly pointed out that he slipped and it wasn't a big deal.

Where do these guys go from here?

Assuncao was a top featherweight for a time and is now looking to re-invent himself at 135. He definitely has the skills to be a top bantamweight, and this was a good first step. A matchup against Ivan Menjivar would be a very interesting fight.

Eduardo was outclassed by Assuncao, but the bantamweight division is very shallow. He'll likely get another fight against one of the 135'ers that comes up short in his own debut over the next couple of months.

Watch it now, later, or never?

Later. The bout wasn't amazing, but it did feature some excellent striking from Assuncao and a close call near the end of the second round. It was pretty slow on the ground most of the time though.