UFC Fight Night 28 Results Recap: Glover Teixeira Makes A Statement By Knocking Out Ryan Bader
UFC Fight Night 28 is in the books from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and the fights delivered an action-packed card full of great fights and fighters. No. 2-ranked Light Heavyweight Glover Teixeira faced Ryan Bader in the main event. It began with Teixeira avoiding a takedown, but Bader landed a hard shot and looked to flurry. ‘Darth’ jumped into an unsuccessful guillotine and got taken down by Teixeira. The two fighters went to war, with Bader seemingly rocking Teixeira, but the Brazilian came back in a flash to finish the fight with a one-two combo and brutal ground and pound. The statement win should have Teixeira in line for a title shot, having won five in a row since his UFC debut.
Yushin Okami and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza squared off at Middleweight in a battle of top-flight grapplers. ‘Jacare’ came out throwing power shots early, with kicks to the body and a flurry of punches. Although Okami recovered, Souza landed a bomb that dropped Okami. A few ground shots followed and the fight was finished with no need to go to the mat. ‘Jacare’s’ striking is looking on par with his BJJ skills, which is a scary proposition for the UFC Middleweight division. Unfortunately, ‘Jacare’ appeared to have injured his leg somehow kicking Okami, so we’ll await an injury report from the surging Middleweight.
Joseph Benavidez continued his quest for another UFC Flyweight title shot against submission whiz Jussier Formiga. Benavidez looked to exercise the advantage of his newfound striking thanks to coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig, and he did just that. Snapping crisp shots from the start, Benavidez rocked Formiga with a combination of punches followed by a brutal knee to the body. It was lights out for the Jiu-jitsu champion Formiga from there, but he got hit about ten more times before it was over.
Bruising Lightweight Francisco “Massaranduba” Trinaldo welcomed touted UFC newcomer Piotr Hallmann to the Octagon in Belo Horizonte. The highly favored Trinaldo threw a hard hook to the body and then a big left upstairs. “Massaranduba” nailed Hallmann with a vicious body kick, noticeably injuring him. Hallmann showed incredible toughness to fight on with shots of his own. Trinaldo took Hallmann down to finish the first. Hallmann grabbed a high kick to score a takedown as the second opened. Trinaldo grabbed his own takedown, and then went for a leglock to no avail. Hallmann quickly turned the tables with a takedown and elbows from the top. Hallmann then locked up a surprising kimura to earn the tapout and shock the Brazilian crowd. Quite the debut for the Polish Lightweight.
Rafael “Sapo” Natal met former TUF 17 contestant Tor ‘The Hammer’ Troeng at Middleweight. Natal rocked Troeng early with a grazing right and smothered him on the ground, looking for a guillotine. Troeng countered and got up to land a strong left. Natal showed an excellent ground game with several sweeps. Troeng held his own with the BJJ black belt to end the round on top. The second round didn’t fair as well for the Swede, as Natal nailed him with a straight right and looked to finish on the mat. Troeng somehow recovered but was controlled for most of the round. The final frame saw Troeng look for a lifting takedown but land in a guillotine. True to form, Troeng escaped but Natal swept him once again to land on top. “Sapo” took Troeng’s back to end the exciting ground war, winning an impressive unanimous decision for his hometown fans.
Marcus Vinicius met Ali Bagautinov at Flyweight to kick off the main card. The Sambo practitioner Bagautinov rocked Vinicius early on, looking to finish with ground and found followed by a guillotine. Vinicius recovered and took Bagautinov’s back, and ended the first round with a nice double leg. Bagautinov found a nice trip in the second and stalked Vinicius, scoring another takedown to end the round. In the last round, Vinicius continued to do nothing and paid the price, eating a huge right hand and getting knocked out.
UFC Fight Night 28 Main Card Results:
Glover Teixeira def. Ryan Bader via R1 TKO (strikes-2:55)
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza?def. Yushin Okami via R1 TKO (strikes-2:47)
Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier Formiga via R1 TKO (strikes-3:07)
Piotr Hallmann def. Francisco Trinaldo via R2 submission (kimura-3:50)
Rafael “Sapo” Natal def. Tor Troeng via unanimous decision
Ali Bagautinov def. Marcos Vinicius via R3 TKO (strikes-3:28)
Outer Photo: Gary A. Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports