Brazilian Souza extends dominance over American Brunson at UFC Charlotte
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
TWICE they have met in a mixed martial arts fight and two times Brazilian Jacaré Souza emerged on top of American Derek Brunson after the former won quick at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, yesterday.
Facing anew after six years since their first encounter, Mr. Souza repeated over Mr. Brunson, concluding the fight at the 3:50 mark of the opening round with a technical knockout on a solid head kick and punches after.
The two fighters went back and forth early with both of them landing some solid hits.
Mr. Souza though would change the direction of the match after he connected on a high right head kick that immediately sent Mr. Brunson down the mat.
The Brazilian wasted no time thereafter to go for the closeout, unleashing a barrage of punches on his opponent before the referee stopped the fight.
The win was reminiscent of the fast victory of Mr. Souza over Mr. Brunson in their August 2012 fight over at Strikeforce where he stopped the American by knockout (punches) just 41 seconds into the first round.
“I feel great. It’s nice to be back to winning and into the game. Four months ago I was in the hospital and now I here,” said Mr. Souza, who improved to 25-5 after the win.
Mr. Brunson, meanwhile, dropped to six losses with 18 wins.
In other fights at “UFC on Fox: Jacare vs. Brunson 2, featherweight Andre Fili won over Dennis Bermudez by split decision (29-28, 27-30 and 29-28), lightweight Gregor Gillespie beat Jordan Rinaldi by technical knockout (punches) in the first round, and welterweight Drew Dober defeated Frank Camacho by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 30-27).
Next for the UFC is “UFC Fight Night 125” on Feb. 4 (Manila time) in Belem, Brazil that will be headlined by the middleweight match between Lyoto Machida and Eryk Anders.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.
