UFC Belem main card results & highlights: Prazeres decisions Green, Santos TKOs Smith

On the UFC Belem main card, Michel Prazeres and Desmond Green went the distance in a grinding match at 155 pounds, sort of. When it was all said and done, it was Prazeres who walked away with the unanimous decision, but it should be noted that Prazeres missed weight by five pounds, and weighed at least 180 pounds at the time of the fight. The UFC’s #14 heavyweight Timothy Johnson dished out the first Brazilian loss of the event as he earned the unanimous nod over the previously undefeated Marcelo Golm. Douglas Silva de Andrade picked up a clean unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera, landing several big punches throughout each round of their bantamweight bout. Thiago Santos came up with a huge victory as he TKO’d Anthony Smith in the 2nd round of their exciting middleweight tilt to open up the main card.

Main Card:

Michel Prazeres def. Desmond Green by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Lightweight

Prazeres took the center of the cage and unleashed some heavy leg kicks before shooting in on Green. Green was able to remain vertical and acquired a takedown of his own, which initiated a fun to watch scramble. Just when Prazeres found top position, his poor shot selection resulted in the referee restarting the fight on the feet. A botched toss gave Green the top position, which he held for the final few seconds of the opening round.

Prazeres opened the round with a big left hook but gave up the double leg takedown to Green. Prazeres returned to his feet and muscled a takedown of his own before transitioning to full mount and going for an Arm Triangle. Green showcased his submission defense, escaping the choke and then fending off a Guillotine attempt followed by a North/South choke attempt. It was Prazeres who took the center of the cage, landing the better shots in the final round before realizing a takedown. A few ground strikes landed for Prazeres down the stretch, as he held on to top control until the final bell sounded.

The UFC 3 video game better have Green’s sub defense rated high:

Timothy Johnson def. Marcelo Golm by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Heavyweight

Johnson took the center, landing a few punches before clinching up with Golm and landing repeated knees to the gut. An accidental clash of heads seemed to open up a cut around the right eye of his foe, but continued to find himself defending in the clinch.

Golm landed a big bolo to open the 2nd round to which Johnson responded with some heaters of his own. Johnson again clinched with Golm, launching knees to the midsection and forcing Golm to be defensive. Johnson threw a true heavyweight spinning back kick in the final moments of the round; he missed by a mile, but he still threw it.

A couple stinging kicks to the body and leg scored for Golm to start the final round. Johnson responded by blitzing the young gun with a flurry, connecting with several punches and backing up Golm to the fence. The same strategy was reapplied, as Johnson continued to dictate the pace of the fight with his grinding clinch game and deceptive boxing skills.

Johnson let his hands go in the 3rd:

Talk about heavy hands:

Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Marlon Vera by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3): Bantamweight

Silva de Andrade established control of the center of the Octagon right off the bat, firing off heavy right hands whenever Vera closed the distance. Vera worked his kicks from range as he danced around the outside, avoiding the power of his opponent. Silva de Andrade scored a huge takedown right before the end of the opening round.

Vera upped his volume in the 2nd stanza, but Silva de Andrade returned fire with some heavy punches that opened up his opponent around the eye. Several big bombs landed for Silva de Andrade throughout the round, but the battered Vera continued to fire back.

Vera came out for the final round like a man possessed, throwing everything at his opponent, but Silva de Andrade absorbed the damage rather well. Silva de Andrade continued to punch away, to which Vera flipped him the double middle finger, but the vulgar gesture did little to help Vera get back into the fight.

“Chito” went for it late, but it wasn’t quite enough to get the W:

The violence was ample from Silva de Andrade:

Thiago Santos def. Anthony Smith by TKO (Body Kick & Punches) at 1:03 of round 2: Middleweight

Santos came out and landed a flashy spinning back kick to the face of Smith, and as he moved in for the kill, Smith managed to scramble into full mount. Smith got reversed, giving his opponent top position inside his full guard. Smith gets back to his feet and the middleweights connected at the same time, with Santos getting split open and Smith stumbling backwards. What a crazy opening round!

The middleweights went right at it in the 2nd frame; Santos returned to utilizing his kicks with Smith looking for his straight punches. A fierce body kick landed to the liver of Smith, forcing him to fold up on the ground. Santos’ killer instinct kicked in, and a ferocious barrage of ground strikes prompted the referee to stop the fight.

Bloody Elbow’s own Mystic Mookie predicted Santos to win by body kick in round 2:

WARRRR:

The kicks of Santos are serious: