UFC Fight Night 164 Results: Blachowicz victorious over Souza in Brazil

UFC Fight Night 164 took place in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil in front of a sold out crowd who came to see a variety of top Brazilian mixed-martial-artists such as 'Jacare' Souza in the main event and legendary kick boxer Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in the co-main event.

Jan Blachowicz outlasts Ronaldo Souza in split decision win

Jan Blachowicz spoiled another light heavyweight debut as the Polish fighter defeated former UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in front of his hometown by way of split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).

The pair are blackbelts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have plenty of knockout power in their shots, so as a result of this knowledge both fighters were very tentative throughout the bout.

Early in the fight both fighters had the other up against the cage, however they struggled to connect with clean strikes and inflict much damage to each other.

The bout continued to lack action, and to create entertainment for themselves the Brazilian crowd waved their phones in the crowd with their torches on to try and encourage both fighters to do more.

In the 5th, Blachowicz clipped Jacare with a quick uppercut causing the Brazilian to be wobbled momentarily.

It’s the second fight in a row that Blachowicz has spoiled the light heavyweight debut of a former UFC middleweight contender, having knocked out Luke Rockhold back in July, but it’s likely one of his least exciting fights to date.

“I don’t feel the fight [was good], but I won the fight which was good,” said the victorious Polish fighter.

“Maybe Jon-it’s now or never,” replied Blachowicz when asked who his next opponent should be.

Jacare was disappointed with the judge’s decision- “every time it’s a close fight they never give the win.”

He also added that he was close to pulling out of the contest- “20 days ago I had a cough and 10 days ago I nearly didn’t fight, but I had to fight and had to fight here.”

Mauricio Rua vs Paul Craig ends in a draw

The co-main event fight between MMA legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua against Scotland’s Paul Craig ended in a split decision draw.

Scotland’s Paul Craig got off to a promising start as he was close to finishing the former UFC light heavyweight champion in front of a sold-out crowd at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil.

In the first round, Craig unloaded a barrage of punches, many of them landing flush on Shogun, but ultimately, Craig could not put the 37-year-old Brazilian away.

Despite some heavy shots from the Scotsman in the third round, Shogun once again got top position while Craig tried to set-up various submissions attempts without success.

In the final seconds of the third round, Craig had a sense of urgency as he managed to get up, unloaded on the Brazilian and scored a late take down.

After three rounds, it went to the judge’s decision where Mauricio Rua and Paul Craig had convinced one judge each, while the third one saw the fight as a draw.

Craig pulled off 51 significant strikes to Shogun Rua’s 32 and had the same number of takedowns (1) as the veteran fighter, but Shogun managed to maintain his top position on the ground over his opponent for nearly 7 minutes (6:58) of the 15-minute fight.

“I wished I’d done better, “said Craig who seemed disappointed with the hard-fought draw.

“I thought I’d won the last two rounds.

On the other hand, Shogun believed he did enough to secure the victory saying, “I thought I won the final two rounds.”

Charles Oliveira KO’s Jared Gordon

Brazilian MMA fighter Oliveira knocked out Gordon 1 minute 26 seconds in the first round.

Charlies Oliveira stunned the onrushing Gordon, and then ended the fight with a swift uppercut to put the American to sleep.

From the first second Gordon was in the face of Oliveira, but the Brazilian evaded Gordon’s heavy shots and secured his second finish of 2019.

The victory means he now has the longest active win streak in the UFC (6) and increases his UFC finishes to 15 meaning he’s only behind record holder Donald Cerrone who holds 16 UFC finishes to his name.

“Conor McGregor come on,” shouted Oliveira, who was ecstatic after his win.

Andre Muniz defeats Antonio Arroyo via unanimous decision

Andre Muniz outpoints Antonio Arroyo to win the unanimous decision (30-27) on his UFC debut.

The pair both appeared on Dana Whites Contender Series last year, but it was the more experienced fighter who came away with the win.

It was evident Muniz wanted to keep the fight on the ground, when in the first round he nearly submitted Arroyo with an armbar, however Arroyo maintained composure and escaped.

Muniz performed 3 successful takedowns from 7 attempts, and his dominance on the ground enabled him to score nearly double the amount of strikes Arroyo achieved (85-47).

“It is so great to see my idols fighting here… I want to thank Dana White for the opportunity, I started slow, but I got the job done,” said Muniz.

Wellington Turman defeats Markus Perez by unanimous decision

Wellington Turman defeated Markus Perez by unanimous decision (30-27).

Wellington Turman (23) put on an impressive performance over Markus Perez at UFC Sao Paulo, and despite being 8 years younger than Perez (31), he showed he was the dominant fighter on the feet and on the ground as well.

The opening round was a close encounter between the two, however as the bout continued young Brazilian fighter Turman excelled in front of the Sao Paulo crowd.

His top performance in the octagon made it his 5th win his last 6 fights.