It was a mixed bag of results for old legends fighting for past glories as Vitor Belfort lost to Kelvin Gastelum in the main event but Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua pulled off an upset in the co-main. Belfort tagged Gastelum several times during their one round fight to keep the loud Brazilian crowd on their feet, but it was two knockdowns by Gastelum that finished the fight.
The referee, Big John McCarthy, gave Belfort a gift by not stopping the fight after the first big overhand knocked him to the canvas senseless, and the tough Brazilian managed to get back to his feet. But when Gastelum knocked him back down half a minute later, Big John had seen enough and waved off the fight at 3:52 of round 1.
衝撃😤💥の結末😳#UFCファイトナイトフォルタレザ
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Xv8YQtjOQh— UFC Japan (@ufc_jp) March 12, 2017
Afterwards, UFC commentator Brian Stann asked Belfort about his plans for the future, and Belfort revealed he had one bout left on his fight contract that he wanted to compete in, hopefully when the UFC returns to Rio Brazil in June.
In the co-main event, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Gian Villante battled it out in an entertaining slugfest that saw the crafty Rua take a lot of damage but come out on top with a flurry of punches that saw Villante crumble against the cage with ten seconds left in the fight.
LEGEND. Shogun brings it in Fortaleza! Excellent TKO victory over Gian Villante. #UFCFortaleza #UFCFightNight https://t.co/njINsIT896
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) March 12, 2017
Further down the card, Edson Barboza made an early submission for knockout of the year with his huge flying knee KO of Beneil Dariush:
UNREAL! @EdsonBarbozaJr is a human highlight reel. Flying Knee to the moon landed on Dariush FTW. #UFCFortaleza https://t.co/PNJtzlLvz6
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) March 12, 2017
Full results:
Maurício Rua defeats Gian Villante via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round 3
Edson Barboza defeats Beneil Dariush via KO (flying knee) at 3:35 of round 2
Ray Borg defeats Jussier Formiga via Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bethe Correia vs. Marion Reneau declared a majority draw (27-29, 28-28, 28-28)
Alex Oliveira defeats Tim Means via Submission (rear-naked choke)at 2:38 of round 2
Kevin Lee defeats Francisco Trinaldo via Submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:12 of round 2
Sérgio Moraes defeats Davi Ramos via Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Soto defeats Rani Yahya via Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Michel Prazeres defeats Josh Burkman via Submission (north-south choke) at 1:41 of round 1
Jeremy Kennedy defeats Rony Jason via Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Paulo Henrique Costa defeats Garreth McLellan via TKO (punches) at 1:17 of round 1
