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Held this Saturday (9) in the American city of Jacksonville, the UFC 249 card presented the return of former heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum, who served a two-year suspension for breaking the doping test. As an opponent, the gaucho faced Russian Aleksei Oleinik, who contradicted the statistics and beat the favorite on points.
Better at first, the America Top Team academy rep showed speed, absorbing power, and punch like never before, even leaving his opponent dizzy at times. However, as the actions progressed, Werdum began to wear his jiu-jitsu and balanced the actions, ending the fight better. Unfortunately, the Brazilian came out of the cage with another loss, this time by split decision.
With the result, the 42-year-old Brazilian recorded his second consecutive loss in the event and with just one more fight on his contract, he may be close to saying goodbye to the world’s biggest fight show.
The struggle
The first round of the fight had a real surprise. Better stopped from the beginning, Oleinik dominated the center of the octagon and punished the Brazilian with strong crosses, which left ‘Vai Cavalo’ dizzy three times. In response, the former champion simply defended the attacks, closed in search of knees and attempted some takedowns (all defended by the opponent).
In the second stage, even with the fastest fists, Oleinik was more tired and fell victim to some knees from Werdum, who took advantage of the good moment and even fell and worked on the half guard for almost a minute. This dynamic ensured balance, but not the advantage for the Brazilian, who again suffered the blows from the foot of the Russian.
The third and last round became a true classic between fighter and striker. With three falls, Werdum climbed up, grabbed him by the back, and tried three bracelets. However, every time the fight recovered, it was the Russian’s turn to set the pace with strong crosses. Since nobody gave up, the best part was with the gaucho, who finished the five minutes with a tight guillotine.
Bureaucratic triumph
Former UFC strawweight champion (52 kg), Carla Esparza recorded her third consecutive UFC victory. For this, the American attacked in detail and defeated Michelle Waterson without great difficulties, better exploring her punches and rapid falls.
Only in the last round, when he seemed certain of victory, Esparza hesitated and opened the gap for Waterson to hit two foot shots to balance the stage. Nothing, however, that can alter the result. However, curiously, one of the secondary referees gave Michelle the 30×27 victory, incredible and unjustifiable. Final result: Esparza won by divided decision.
They are not the same
The meeting between veterans Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone made it clear that Americans no longer have the same firepower as that first fight, which took place seven years ago. With more ‘miles’ in the cage, accumulated damage and losses, the athletes presented themselves in a slower and less forceful way, despite being surplus in terms of technique and race.
In the end, better for Pettis, a former lightweight champion (70kg), who started better and watched his opponent grow slowly in the race. In the final and decisive round, ‘Showtime’ struck a finger in Cerrone’s eye and did not stop attacking, perhaps guaranteeing him the victory by unanimous decision.
With the result, Pettis interrupted the series of two defeats by imposing the fourth stumbling block in Cowboy’s career, who at 37 begins thinking about his retirement from the sport.
Follow the results of UFC 249:
Anthony Pettis defeated Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision.
Aleksei Oleinik won Fabricio Werdum by divided decision;
Carla Esparza defeated Michelle Waterson by split decision;
Vicente Luque knocked out Niko Price in the third round;
Bryce Mitchell defeated Charles Rosa by unanimous decision;
Ryan Spann defeated Sam Alvey by unanimous decision.
