TUF 14 Finale: Diego Brandao armbars Dennis Bermudez to win the Featherweight bracket
Posted on December 3, 2011, 09:18 PM by Anton GurevichBrazilian prodigy Diego Brandao lived up to the expectations with a memorable Submission victory over Dennis Bermudez in the Featherweight Finale of the 14th Season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Diego Brandao walked out to the music of his hero and the fellow Brazilian, Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva, bringing the same "all-out war" attitude inside the Octagon. Brandao displayed strong striking techniques, but his approach almost cost him dearly after Dennis Bermudez managed to time in his strikes and hurt the Brazilian on several occasion.
Bermudez managed to knock down Brandao with a vicious right hand, as the Brazilian went down flat on his back. However, Brandao was still in the game defending off his back, while Bermudez tried to ground and pound his way to victory. The moment of truth came when Diego Brandao trapped Bermudez's left arm between his legs, resulting in a perfectly executed armbar. Bermudez tapped out immediately.
Diego Brandao improves his MMA record to 14-8, looking as a potential future contender in the UFC Featherweight division. Brandao is still light years behind Jose Aldo, but he definitely shows the signs of developing in a high quality MMA fighter. At the age of 24, sky is the limit for Diego Brandao.
Comments
Good win for Diego
Ya Diego looked incredible, great muay thai and bjj, he reminds me of Aldo...also, that was one of the most exciting first rounds I have seen, rite up there with DIaz/Daley and Kongo/Barry
Jiu Jitsu!
that was one fookin hella amazing armbar, right time, quick as hell, nice technique...gratz diego...now go buy mom a house
We heard on the show that Diego had a nasty ground game, we were not lied to.
Diego is a beast, he showed the whole package tonight :
- He showed nice stand-up and dropped the very tough Bermudez, he mixed it up with kicks, punches and knees (flying ones aswell).
- He stuffed a stud wrestler many times and when taken down got back up eventually without takign any real damage.
- Got caught with a killer right hand but recovered really quickly and showed a good chin up untill getting dropped. He stayed composed while being on his back just after getting dropped by a perfect strike.
- Subbed a strong wrestler, who has decent jits, off his back while being rocked and did it extremely quickly and technically perfectly.
- Made the fight exciting from start to finish, the same as his 3 fights on TUF.
Diego Brandao has a stunning bright future ifnront of him.
Bermudez also has a good future, great wrestler who showed much improved striking tonight by going strike for strike with Brandao and even dropping him and almost finishing the fight. He has also showed subs and massive heart on TUF especially against Akira Corassani.
i must say i found both fighters equaly impressive!
Allthough Diego won the fight i saw alot of holes in his stand up that he should really work on other than that he is awesome from skill to character, modern day wanderlei! :P
I agree. Diego looked good but I actually think Dennis was looking maybe even a tad better at times. A great fight and a worthy winner but I certainly think the loser is worthy of sticking around as all he did was get sloppy thinking he had the fight in the bag otherwise we may have had a different outcome. Congrats to Diego he is impressive.
Good fight. I was rooting for Bermudez only because he's from the same town I live in (Saugerties, NY). Diego was just nasty and I think had more riding on the victory what with wanting to take care of his people back Brazil. I think we'll see Bermudez again though.
Fantastic fight. Diego is a beast and will be a force to be reckoned with.
Bermudez look really good to. I think he will be a strong fighter and will develop in to a Kenny Florian level fighter.
Kenny Florian level? So he's also going to make a career of choking at the big shows?
Lil Axe Murderer.. I like this guy.. How can u complain when all a guy wants to do is smash his opponents face n get KO of the night? :P
Dennis was tapping while the arm bar was still in transition. Nice technique by Diego.