What a battle this turned out to be and the judges had no choice but to call this fight a majority draw! The intense fight took place in the UFC and was between two formidable opponents, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Rinat Fakhretdinov, the latter of whom was just a few swings away from making one of the biggest comebacks of the year. Dos Santos was floored in the first minute by Fakhretdinov, a heavy-hitting welterweight, who seemed to be distributing overhand rights as if they were free samples. However, Fakhretdinov overlooked his wrestling background in the second round as he got too engrossed in using his fists. This led to dos Santos finding pockets of opportunity to land a body kick.
Moving into Round 3, Fakhretdinov was already tired and succumbed to dos Santos’ body attack. He was just on the brink of being finished before being rescued by the end bell. The judges’ scores declared the round a major victory for dos Santos, and the bout was finally settled as a majority draw. In another exciting bout that day, the undefeated light heavyweight Vitor Petrino everyone stunned, but particularly Modestas Bukauskas, with an astonishing left hook in the second round. Petrino, who had won his last fight via submission, demonstrated his exceptional wrestling skills with a powerful body slam in the first round.
Meanwhile, in their strawweight matchup, Angela Hill outclassed Denise Gomes in all respects to claim a unanimous decision win. Despite being caught in a deep armbar attempt towards the end of Round 1, Hill managed to escape and keep out of harm’s way for the rest of the contest. All through the fight, she dominated Gomes with speedy attacks and strong knees. Apart from this, Eduarda Moura, despite being overweight for her UFC debut, was remarkable during her first promotional win, outclassing Montserrat Ruiz throughout the fight. Lastly, the astute veteran Marc Diakiese managed to neutralize Kaue Fernandes during his UFC debut, which led to Diakiese winning a split decision. Throughout the combat, Diakiese maintained control on ground, frustrating Fernandes who failed to find an answer. Despite the disappointment of the debut, facing a fighter of Diakiese’s caliber was a good testing ground for Fernandes.