MMA fans just got through a busy weekend in MMA that will lead into a landslide of events over the next month. There was a UFC event in Sao Paulo on Saturday night that ended with knockout after knockout, while Bellator and RFA held cards on Friday which saw some impressive performances in their respective main events. Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson headlined the UFC event in their trilogy match, and it went very similarly to their second meeting. A headkick from Belfort rocked Henderson, and then the Brazilian finished things off with his characteristic swarm. For all the talk about Belfort and performance enhancing drugs, he has showed the same burst in his fight with Chris Weidman and now the bout with Henderson that he had when he was dripping TRT.
Glover Teixeira continued his resurgence with a second-round knockout of Patrick Cummins in the co-main event. Since losing his title shot against Jon Jones and then dropping a lacklustre decision to Phil Davis, Teixeira has looked impressive in wins over Ovince Saint Preux and now Cummins. With Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Ryan Bader (whom Teixeira already finished) ahead of him in the light heavyweight division, the 36-year-old could be looking at another title shot in short order.
Young Brazilian prospect Thomas Almeida scored another incredible stoppage in his UFC run, and he erased Anthony Birchak’s consciousness from existence. The striker’s ability to inflict a special kind of violence on his opponents was on full display, especially with the final combination the felled Birchak gruesomely against the fence. Although he’s still young, Almeida is due for a step up in competition, as he has proven himself against multiple mid-tier opponents thus far.
Bellator 145 on Friday featured a trilogy in its main event as well, but it was a far more competitive affair. Daniel Straus recaptured his featherweight title from Patricio ‘Pitbull’ after a sterling five-round performance that saw him land consistently on an increasingly hittable Freire. This will be Straus’ second stint as Bellator champion, and continues the triangle that has existed between Straus, Freire, and Pat Curran for years in the Bellator 145lb division. The co-main event saw Will Brooks retain his lightweight title with a fairly straightforward decision over Marcin Held. The only danger Brooks really faced was in the first round, when Held locked on a kneebar. Brooks later disclosed that his knee popped in that first round, and that resulted in his conservative gameplan for the remainder of the fight. Former lightweight champion Michael Chandler seems destined for another date with Brooks after dispatching David Rickels for the second time. Chandler scored a takedown and maintained top position for much of the opening round. In the second, he dropped Rickels and proceeded to unload with ground-and-pound from every angle until the referee mercifully stopped the fight. Chandler has an 0-2 record against Brooks, but most feel that he deserved a draw — at the very worst — against Brooks in their first meeting.
The final event from this past weekend was RFA 32. The most notable and impressive performance of the night was Leandro Higo continuing to reassert himself as a top prospect following his disappointing showing on TUF Brazil 4. He knocked out Melvin Blumer in the first round, and as a result he’ll likely received either a RFA bantamweight title shot or a call from the UFC.