Fabricio Werdum continued his
rise up the heavyweight ranks while also proving that he hasn't abandoned his
jiu-jitsu roots, and he used an armbar to submit former UFC interim heavyweight
champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at at the 2:41 mark of Round 2.
The heavyweight bout headlined
Saturday's UFC on FUEL TV 10 event at Paulo Sarasate Arena. It aired on FUEL TV
following prelims on Facebook.
If there was any doubt as to
where Werdum wanted the fight, it was eliminated when he nabbed the first
takedown moments into the opening round of the scheduled five-rounder. At first
Nogueira managed to hold his own on the mat with the former jiu-jitsu world champion,
but by the second frame Werdum seemed to be one step ahead in the grappling
exchanges. After taking Nogueira's back after escaping a failed
guillotine-choke attempt, Werdum locked up the armbar and forced a verbal tap
from Nogueira.
"He is, in fact, an idol
for all Brazilians," Werdum said of Nogueira via a translator after the
bout. "It's my second fight with him, and it was a tough fight. ... I was
able to get onto his back and get the armbar, and then I was able to make him
submit. That made me very happy."
Werdum suffered a decision
loss to Nogueira at a 2006 PRIDE event but got his revenge in the rematch.
Werdum is ranked No. 5 and
Nogueira No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight
rankings, but those numbers may very well change as a result of their bout. For
his part, Werdum followed up the victory by making his case for a title shot,
saying, "I just want the UFC to give me the chance to show I'm the best in
the world."
Werdum (17-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC)
has now won three straight in the UFC, and he's undefeated since returning to
the UFC in February 2012. Nogueira (34-8-1, 5-4) loses for the first time since
December of 2011, when he had his arm broken in a submission loss to Frank Mir
at UFC 140.
In the night's co-headliner,
Leonardo Santos (12-3, 1-0) won "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2"
reality show by tapping out fellow tournament finalist William Macario (6-1,
0-1) with a second-round arm-triangle choke.
Full UFC on FUEL TV 10 results
included:
- Fabricio Werdum def. Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira via verbal submission (armbar) - Round 2, 2:41
- Leonardo Santos def. William
Macario via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 2, 4:43 - to win "TUF:
Brazil 2" tournament
- Thiago Silva def. Rafael
Cavalcante via KO (punches) - Round 1, 4:29
- Erick Silva def. Jason High
via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 1:11
- Daniel Sarafian def. Eddie
Mendez via submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 1, 2:20
- Rony Jason def. Mike
Wilkinson via technical submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 1:24
- Raphael Assucano def.
Vaughan Lee via submission (armbar) - Round 2, 1:51
- Felipe Arantes def.
Godofredo Castro via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:32
- Ildemar Alcantara def.
Leandro Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rodrigo Damm def. Mizuto
Hirota via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Caio Magalhaes def. Karlos
Vemola via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:49
- Antonio Braga Neto def.
Anthony Smith via submission (kneebar) - Round 1, 1:52
(Source)
