UFC Sao Paulo: Little Nog, Santos, Oliveira Pick Up Big Wins, While Barao Struggles
Eryk Anders has become the guy willing to fight anywhere, anybody, anytime. It didn’t pay off for him at UFC Sao Paulo Saturday.
Anders took on Thiago Santos in the latter’s home country, with both men up a weight division in the main event of the show Saturday night. Ultimately, the back-and-forth fight was finished after the third round when Anders collapsed while trying to get back to his corner. For the #12 middleweight Santos, it was his 6th win in 7 fights.
Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira continues to impress at 170 pounds, after he knocked out Carlo Perdersoli Jr. in quick fashion. Oliveira has only three losses in his 13 Octagon appearances.
Antônio Rogério Nogueira, a PRIDE legend, made the crowd come unglued in stopping fringe top-15 light heavyweight Sam Alvey. Nogueira has had a tough time getting in the cage, fighting only six times in the last seven years. Nogueira has now won two of his last three fights, both by KO/TKO.
Luck wasn’t on Renan Barao’s side, who fell to 1-5 in UFC’s USADA era after dropping a decision to the debuting Andre Ewell. An emotional Ewell took to the microphone after the fight, saying that he and his family were nearly homeless before signing with UFC.
Other highlights on the show included former UFC title challenger Thales Leites ending his career with a unanimous decision win over former Bellator Champion Hector Lombard. Charles Oliveira would make history on the show, passing Royce Gracie with his 11th UFC submission victory over Christos Giagos. Former Invicta Champion Livia Renata Souza tapped out Alex Chambers, while top-15 welterweight Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos knocked out Luigi Vendramini.
You can see our full live coverage of UFC Sao Paulo at this link. We’ll be covering the event on our Tuesday Fightful MMA Podcast at 2 PM EST.
