‘UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II’ event review
‘UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II’ is behind us, and although the event will hardly be breaking records for pay-per-view buys, the reshuffled line-up still managed to keep us entertained and given the electrifying atmosphere in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the UFC’s latest South American excursion was a successful one. The first ever winners of ‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ were crowned and there were ups and downs for the local fighters, so allow MMABay to round-up all of the night’s action and see what lies ahead for the winners and losers.
‘Ace’ spoils the party, beats Silva for the second time in five-round war
A patched up main event saw TUF Brazil coach, Wanderlei Silva, face off against Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin for a second time and after a rugged five rounds, that was awarded ‘Fight of the Night’ honours, it was the American who spoiled the night for Brazil.
The two legends met at a catchweight of 195lbs and the visibly bigger Franklin blocked out the partizan crowd to stalk down and briefly drop ‘The Axe-Murderer’ in round one. But the second round saw Wanderlei channel the Chute Boxe spirit as the Brazilian came out banging, and late in the round a flurry of knees and punches ended with a vicious right hand that put ‘Ace’ flat on his back. Silva relentlessly went for the finish but despite eating some heavy shots on the ground, Franklin was saved by the bell, making it a round a piece.
After the chaos at the end of round two, the third round came as an odd interlude as both men again reverted to being gunshy and neither landed anything of note before Franklin hit a takedown and some ground and pound to steal it on the scorecards. The fourth followed the same pattern, as Franklin – clearly recovered from his second round beating – stalked down the smaller man and picked his shots well, landing repeated jabs and probably securing a 3-1 lead in rounds.
A cagey final round saw Silva looking desperate, but as the former PRIDE legend came forward, Franklin continued to land short, but effective, counter-punches and even dropped Silva right at the death. The two shared a respectful embrace and to Wand’s credit, he applauded when ‘Ace’ got the 49-46 verdict from all three judges.
Next for Franklin: ‘Ace’ picks up a very respectable victory in hostile surroundings and proves that he can still give the best a run for their money. Franklin spoke after the fight of making 185lbs his permanent home for what he called “one last run at the title” before retirement. Only a top contender will suffice for Franklin and ‘All-American’ Brian Stann fights the bill nicely.
Next for Silva: ‘The Axe-Murderer’ may have lost, but one thing’s certain – in his last two fights, Silva has proven that his chin is not as shot as some would like to be and the fire still burns in his belly. An integral part of making TUF Brazil a success, Silva is by no means done in the UFC, and with whispers suggesting that UFC 153 in October will go down in Brazil, ‘The Axe-Murderer’ is a near lock to feature on that card. If Patrick Cote takes out Cung Le at UFC 148, expect the Canadian to be flying into enemy territory.
‘Mutante’ becomes first TUF Brazil middleweight champion, edges out a game ‘Serginho’
In the co-main event slot, we saw ‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ finalists, Cezar Ferreira and Sergio Moraes, battle it out for the middleweight crown and despite ‘Serginho’ being a replacement for the injured Daniel Sarafian, the final was closer than expected.
Ferreira, Team Belfort’s first pick, had been the early favourite to win the whole thing and he turned up the heat in round one, keeping the fight standing and out-striking the BJJ wizard with some ease to take a clear-cut 10-9 round.
In round two, the taller ‘Mutante’ kept Moraes backing up and dropped him with a sweet roundhouse to the dome, opening up a cut on the grappler. The writing appeared to be on the wall, but after regaining his footing, ‘Serginho’ let rip with a short elbow that visibly shook Ferreira, chasing him down with punches to send the crowd wild and possibly nick the round.
The third round wasn’t as close, as ‘Mutante’ kept coming forward and keeping the grappler off-guard, flooring him late in the round with a stiff shot and taking the unanimous decision, with two of three judges seeing it 30-27 in the favour of Ferreira.
Next for Ferreira: ‘Mutante’ lived up to his hype and while the tall middleweight is far from the finished product, Vitor Belfort’s protege is a worthy winner of the inaugural season of TUF Brazil. Ferreira moves to 5-2 – an indicator of the level of talent on this season – and should be brought along slowly but steadily. He could face in-form Chris Camozzi next, or perhaps Tom Lawlor, either way we’ll see ‘Mutante’s wrestling put to the test.
Next for Moraes: ‘Serginho’ was a massive underdog, for good reason, but to his credit the BJJ world-beater turned in a spirited performance and earned the respect of many. Right now, Moraes is a stellar BJJ black-belt with heart and little else, but he should be given one more fight and could drop to 170lbs. If ‘Serginho’ can make the cut, he’d be a scary adversary for some in the welterweight division.
‘Jason’ squeezes past Pepey to become first TUF Brazil featherweight winner
‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ featherweight final saw heavy-handed striker, Rony ‘Jason’ Mariano, face submission specialist, Godofredo Pepey in what proved to be a rather lacklustre conclusion to the season’s 145lb tournament.
A stuttering first round saw Mariano land a takedown or two but Pepey was content to leap to guard on a couple of occasions, failing with a few mild submission attempts and dropping the round to the more aggressive ‘Jason’.
The second round was a dud, with Pepey failing with another attempt to pull guard and ‘Jason’ arguably winning a dull, tentative striking battle to take a second round and put himself in pole position going into the final round. Early in the final frame, Mariano dropped Pepey with a right hand before the round dissipated into failed guard-pulls, groin shots and lacklustre striking. The two exchanged words at the final bell, having to be kept apart but ‘Jason’ had done enough to eke out the 29-28 unanimous decision.
Next for Mariano: Full of heart but lacking in technique, ‘Jason’ is a crowd-pleasing brawler but his cardio issues and sloppy striking would make him easy pickings for the bigger names of the featherweight division. Expect Mariano to be brought along slowly, perhaps facing fellow stand-up artist, Marcus Brimage, in the near future.
Next for Pepey: The BJJ stylist falls to 8-1 and if truth be told, didn’t look especially impressive on the reality show. Pepey has some skills but is very raw at the moment and he’ll be given a winnable fight when he returns to action, possibly Chinese prospect Tiequan Zhang.
Werdum shines, destroys Russow to stake claim to contender status
In heavyweight action, Brazilian contender, Fabricio Werdum, squared off with in-form Chicago native, Mike Russow, who held an Octagon record of 4-0 coming into the biggest fight of his career to date. It proved to be a fleetng visit to Brazil for Russow, as Werdum made short work of the police officer to throw his name into the title picture.
‘Vai Cavalo’ again opted to shun his elite BJJ game and test out his new-found muay thai skills from the off, initiating the clinch and throwing knees that kept the husky American on the back-foot. A right uppercut from Werdum as the two came together took Russow’s knees out from under him and the big man huddled up on all four as the Brazilian went into kill mode. ‘Vai Cavalo’ landed a flurry of hammerfists and Herb Dean intervened just 2:28 into the very first round.
Next for Werdum: The BJJ black-belt’s striking is beginning to look very good indeed and we could be witnessing the rise of a legitimate contender to the UFC heavyweight title in the new-look Werdum. The contender slots are all filled right now though, so ‘Vai Cavalo’ will need one more high-profile win to get the nod – a fight with fellow BJJ wizard, Frank Mir, could be next as could the winner of August’s fight between knockout artists, Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell.
Next for Russow: The burly lawman falls to 15-2 and 4-1 in the UFC and knowing how thin that division is in terms of numbers, Russow won’t be leaving the heavyweight ranks anytime soon. Both his career losses have come to top-level competition so we could see Russow tangle with well-rounded Dave Herman towards the end of the year.
Dias makes immediate impact, takes out Alcantara to mark impressive debut
The featherweight division just got itself a serious new contender, as Nova Uniao debutant, Hacran Dias, showcased his full arsenal to edge out top prospect, Yuri Alcantara, by decision. A training partner of division champion, Jose Aldo, Dias looked every bit the blue-chip prospect in round one as he took down ‘Marajo’ and almost secured an arm-triangle choke, taking mount and then hitting a huge slam on Alcantara to close out the round.
The two top prospects soon hit the ground in round two, with Alcantara almost getting a triangle-armbar but Dias showed great poise to methodically drop elbows and control ‘Marajo’ on the canvas for much of the round. Alcantara showed some urgency to open round three, but Dias continued to land decent shots and again took down his opponent to get the nod from the judges – all three giving the fight to ‘Barnabe’.
Next for Dias: Now 21-1-1, ‘Barnabe’ looked solid last night and took out one of the borderline title contenders in Alcantara, so expect Dias to be thrown into a title-eliminator fight next time out against surging wrestler, Ricardo Lamas. What happens if Dias wins, is another story, unless Jose Aldo is indeed considering vacating the belt to test the waters at 155lbs?
Next for Alcantara: ‘Marajo’ falls to a very respectable 28-4 and remains a true contender in the still-growing UFC featherweight division. The well-rounded Brazilian could face Texan slugger, Leonard Garcia, when he returns to the cage.
Preliminary Card round-up
The undercard consisted primarily of TUF Brazil contestants and the obligatory grudge match served as the headliner for the prelims as featherweight veteran Rodrigo Damm wiped the floor with his least-favourite housemate, Anistavio Medeiros. After both landed illegal groin kicks, Damm suddenly let rip and a left hand followed by a right that sent the off-balance ‘Gasparzinho’ to his knees was the beginning of the end. Damm leapt in and took the back of a rocked Medeiros, winding up on the bottom cranking on a deep rear-naked choke that forced a semi-conscious ‘Gasparzinho’ to tap just 2:12 into the first round.
Next for Damm: As is customary, all winning TUF contestants will be given a UFC contract and Damm looked better than most last night. The BJJ black-belt has a good nose for a submission and moves to 10-5, setting himself up for a fight with a fellow experienced featherweight such as Javier Vazquez.
Next for Medeiros: ‘Gasparzinho’ qualified for the show through heart alone but that wasn’t enough to stop him going 0-2 including last night’s loss. The brash youngster will be released to tune up his record before possibly being recalled once he’s become a more complete fighter.
‘TUF Brazil’ middleweights met on the prelims and it was a joyful night for Francisco Trinaldo, who put a real beating on experienced grappler, Delson Heleno. The man known as ‘Massaranduba’ spent much of round one fending off desperate, flimsy takedown attempts from ‘Pe de Chumbo’ whose head was being literally bent backwards at times as he flailed at Trinaldo’s legs. During a scramble, Trinaldo connected with a well-placed knee to the chest area and Heleno went limp as he tried to stop ‘Massaranduba’ from securing dominant position on the ground. Trinaldo unloaded with vicious hammerfists as Heleno simply covered up, forcing Herb Dean’s hand at 4:21 of the very first round.
Next for Trinaldo: ‘Massaranduba’ climbs to 11-1 but the Brazilian fought mainly at 155lbs prior to the show and we may see Trinaldo drop down to his natural weight-class where he could be a real threat. A fight with British kickboxer, Paul Taylor, would be guaranteed fireworks.
Next for Heleno: ‘Pe de Chumbo’ was one of ‘those’ guys, whose record couldn’t be denied but was too old and middle-of-the-road for a show like ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. The natural welterweight will probably not be given a chance to fight at 170lbs and will surely be sent packing to think about retirement.
In featherweight action, Team Belfort’s Hugo Viana took on Team Wanderlei’s John Teixeira as two unbeaten prospects looked to establish themselves in the big leagues. A cagey first round was nicked by Viana, who cut ‘Macapa’ and shook off a few shots from the bigger man – Teixeira came in 5lbs overweight. Teixeira kept his cool though and levelled the scores in round two by constantly coming forward and scoring the odd messy takedown, setting up a make or break final round. A messy third round could have easily gone either way, as Teixeira scored a takedown and kept coming but Viana landed stout enough counter-shots. The judges were split, with two giving the victory to ‘Wolverine’.
Next for Viana: ‘Wolverine’ was clearly one of the more talented featherweights on the reality show and the well-rounded Viana moves to 6-0 while securing a UFC contract. The 5ft 6in Viana would be well-advised to try out the bantamweight division, where his heavy hands and solid grappling could pose a huge problem for many contenders.
Next for Teixeira: ‘Macapa’ loses for the first time, falling to 13-1 but the gritty Teixeira hasn’t looked sub-par even in defeat and should be given a second chance. We could see the Brazilian face Venezuelan banger, Maximo Blanco, on the prelims of the next Brazilian fight card.
Another middleweight tilt saw losing semi-finalist, Thiago Perpetuo, face unbeaten rookie Leonardo Mafra in a stop-start affair that at least produced a quality finish. In round one, Perpetuo – or ‘Bodao’, to his friends – tried to cut off the cage but ate some solid shots and low kicks from ‘Macarrao’ who kept moving and possibly stole the round. The second round saw the bigger ‘Bodao’ put the pressure on, fending off a dangerous armbar attempt to mash up Mafra from top position and grind out the round. The pace had slowed, but nobody expected what followed – early in the final round, Perpetuo connected with a flush right hook to the jaw that dropped Mafra like a bad habit. ‘Bodao’ swarmed on the stricken Mafra, landing ground and pound until Mario Yamasaki stepped in just 41-seconds into round three.
Next for Perpetuo: ‘Bodao’, a cancer survivor, was one of the more placid and likeable characters on TUF Brazil and a handy TKO stoppage should secure Perpetuo a spot on the UFC roster. The well-rounded Sao Paulo native moves to 9-1 and could throw down with Hawaiian banger, Brad Tavares, later in the year.
Next for Mafra: ‘Macarrao’ looked undersized for the middleweight division and a move to welterweight would be interesting for the youngster who drops his first professional loss and falls to 5-1. There are many low-level UFC welterweights that Mafra could handily take out.
Anyone who’s followed TUF Brazil would have groaned at the thought of featherweight also-rans, Marcos Vinicius and Wagner Campos, doing battle on the undercard but it turned into a sloppy but entertaining scrap that produced a great finish. Campos surprised us early on, taking down the BJJ wizard and controlling him for spells while attempting some ground and pound but the tables turned drastically in the third and final round. ‘Vina’ came out gunning and a series of knees and punches against the cage left Campos out on his feet, forcing Herb Dean’s hand at 1:04 of the final round.
Next for Vinicius: ‘Vina’ breaks his TUF duck having gone 0-2 during the actual tournament itself and the experienced all-rounder climbs to 20-4, a solid record for a featherweight newcomer. The plucky Vinicius could face Oklahoman wrestling machine, Matt Grice, when he returns to the Octagon.
Next for Campos: ‘Galeto’ looked iffy on the show itself, and was arguably the worst featherweight to make it to the house. This damaging loss will be enough to see Zuffa terminate the contract of Campos, who may be encouraged to drop to 135lbs and pick up a few wins with a view to a recall.
The Facebook prelims got off to a puzzling start, as Felipe Arantes welcomed BJJ sensation, Milton Vieira, to the UFC featherweight division. The physically huge Vieira started brightly but faded as the fight went on, losing the striking battles to ‘Sertanejo’ but the judges were split – each fighter got one vote, with the third judge declaring it a draw. This meant the fight ended in a split draw, a frustrating climax for both featherweights.
Next for Arantes: Now 1-1-1 in the UFC, ‘Sertanejo’ possibly edged it last night but a draw won’t affect his standing much and we could see Arantes face a losing TUF winner such as Ross Pearson or Jonathan Brookins when he returns to action.
Next for Vieira: ‘Miltinho’ showed us glimpses of his A-game but ultimately, disappointed. The BJJ black-belt will be back though and could face fellow veteran, Dustin Neace, for a spot on the roster.
That’s all for ‘UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II’, be sure to stay tuned to MMABay in the days to come as we bring you all of the fallout and breaking news from this and all upcoming mixed martial arts fight cards.
By Steve Davies
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