UFC 301 Brasil/Rio - ft José Aldo and Pantoja/Erceg title fight

[Clav]

https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-301

https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/109604-ufc-fight-night



Big night of fights in the S. Hemisphere....we're going to Rio de Janeiro!

The main event is a title defense for Flyweight with Alexandre Pantoja defending against lucky newcomer on a 3-fight UFC win streak, Steve Erceg.

Also on the card, José Aldo vs Jonathan Martinez in what could be Aldo's final MMA fight.

It looks like a pretty good card, especially for submissions and should be a good crowd to inspire the Brasilians. Let's hope they stick around if things don't go their way like in the Texeira vs Hill fight...

[Clav]

Here are my picks for the card

Spoiler:

Pantoja SUB3
Martinez DEC
Petrino DEC
Poteira KO2
Borralho KO2
Brito KO2
Lucindo DEC
Orolbai SUB2
Jean Silva DEC
Joaquim Silva SUB2
Ruffy DEC
Barbosa SUB2
Bonfim SUB1
Costa DEC

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Ya I'm Greek Orthodox so it's Easter Saturday this Saturday I might be able to catch the early prelims & some of the prelims
but church starts at 10:30 pm ET & goes until 2 am I'm not to broken up about missing these fights.
Don't think ill even bother watching a VOD of it either on the internet.

[Clav]

Ya I'm Greek Orthodox so it's Easter Saturday this Saturday I might be able to catch the early prelims & some of the prelims
but church starts at 10:30 pm ET & goes until 2 am I'm not to broken up about missing these fights.
Don't think ill even bother watching a VOD of it either on the internet.

Hopefully it's a fun day. I'll recap the grappling (expected) for ya [when I'm not watching DEN/MIN G1]! Yes I agree, it is not the most exciting PPV card but I'm happy they visit Brazil - would be nice if they go to other cities there too because it's so much more than Rio

[Clav]

William Gomis weighed in 2 pounds under weight and was sick on that day, so that fight is called off.

Pretty sure my best guess here is that the team overshot his weight cut OR the scale they were using was not properly calibrated.
Either way, Gomis' fight vs Jean Silva is off the card.

[Clav]

Some great fights so far

A questionable finish...Michel Pereira did a cachoeira backflip onto Ihor Poteira, it definitely connected shin to head. That's illegal, yes ? Bout was scored a standing guillotine SUB1 as Michel choked him out. Something to watch back but the sheer awesomeness was great, however by the book it was probably an illegal strike to a downed opponent.

[Clav]

Fun night of fights down in Rio ...including some great finishes and I guess the commission missed one call. However, don't think it would've changed the result as Pereira would've won I think....though I picked Potieria lol


Anyways 9/13 for picks winners tn [not close with the type of win]. Losses were JOaquim Silva's decision loss to Drakkar Klose, Pereira's Sub vs Potieria, Petrino losing in embarrassing fashion to Anthony Smith and Martinez's loss to King of Rio Aldo.

My fight card review:

FOTN - Pantoja v Erceg - An honest brawl. Pantoja had lots of control and takedowns, which led to his decision win. He had some significant strikes but an accidental headknock got Erceg slightly bloodied and seemed to be the worse damage that Erceg wore in the fight. Pantoja wore the worst of the striking battle with lots of blood and damage taken, especially above his eyebrows. He showed resolve by neutralizing Erceg's KO potential and getting a judges decision. I think Erceg won on dmg and was not ready for the grappling battle, but he has a reason to want a better scoring than unanimous. Good fight! Erceg has a place in the top and can be champion if he has better TD defense because his striking was way better than Pantoja.

top performance - José Aldo decision win vs Jonathan Martinez. I picked the younger fighter, and he was absolutely neutralized by Aldo. Awesome bout and happy for Aldo to win in Rio in convincing fashion, a masterclass.

silver star - Mauricio Ruffy KO over Mullarkey - He is showing that he is a force in the lightweight division and did so convincingly. Watch out for him!

big win - Michel Pereira over Potieria - Controversial finish for me but it is obvious that this Pereira is a Middleweight contender and should absolutely get contention for a big big big fight at the top, and soon. The potentially illegal backflip knee Caporeira move is not for me...legal, but I was wrong in picking against him, he probably steamrolls Ihor without that, he looks really sharp right now.

Best KO - Borralho over Craig - Paul Craig is trying to strike and went down a weight class to MW, but Borralho dismantled him on the feet and did not allow him to grapple. It was a great finishing combo.

Please no more - Vitor Petrino's fight IQ. Got himself into a really bad grapple situation as a massive favored fighter and was submitted in 2 minutes. Yikes.

Get better soon - some tough KO's tonight from visitors to Brazil. Mullarkey, Craig, and Poteiria were all lights out and looked really out of it for a hot minute. The Brazilians hit the tourists hard, damn. Jack Shore had an injured leg KO. Looked bad.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Ya Aldo having his speed advantage over a much younger opponent is surprising & yeah great title D# by Pantoja over Erceg.
Just watched the VOD but I did watch the early prelims/prelims & 1st 3 fights on the PPV before I had to leave for church.