UFC 147 Results: Damm and Trinaldo Earn First Round Finishes

UFC 147 got heated up right away in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Saturday with a plethora of undercard fighters that came ready to wage war.

Anistavio Medeiros vs. Rodrigo Damm

Seven-time Brazilian wrestling champion Rodrigo Damm proved how strong he is on the mat, putting BJJ black belt Anistavio Medeiros to sleep at 2:12 of round 1.

Damm never lost a fight in the TUF Brazil house, but was eliminated before his semifinal fight after suffering an injury.

“This result comes from all my trainers in the training camp,” Damm said after the fight.

Damm dropped Medeirose with a right bomb off of a restart after a low glancing kick and looked to lock in the rear naked choke from his back, earning the tap as  Medeiros was falling unconscious.

Damm, a former Strikeforce fighter, ended a two-fight losing streak, as the fights in the TUF house don’t count towards his official record. He is now back in the big time.

Francisco Trinaldo vs. Delson Heleno

Former Jungle Fights champion Francisco Trinaldo was ruthless in his first round stoppage of a former BJJ world champion Delson Heleno, who has a victory over Jake Ellenberger on his record.

The stoppage came at 4:21 of round 1.

Heleno was the most experienced fighter in the TUF house, but Trinaldo employed a low stance to help combat the takedown attempts by Heleno, who struggled to land the takedown. Trinaldo controlled the fight from the top, landing big shots before referee Herb Dean had seen enough and ended the fight.

“That’s what I trained for,” said Trinaldo. “Even if I win or lose I want to make the fans happy. I’d like to fight at a lower weight class in the future.”

John Teixeira vs. Hugo Viana

John Teixeira was eliminated from the TUF house for losing a a split decision. He has left the Octagon after his first UFC fight in the same fashion.

Semifinalist Hugo “The Wolverine” Viana, who is mentored by UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, won a close split decision against BJJ blackbelt John Teixeira, who with nine submission victories was unable to show off his ground game.

The judges scored the fight 29-28 Viana, 29-28 Teixeira, 29-28 Viana.

Both men came out swinging for the fences in round 1 and it was Wolverine who drew the first blood, cutting Teixeira. The opening stages were fought at the distance with Teixeira unable to take Viana to the mat where the BJJ blackbelt is most comfortable.

Viana was clipped late in round 2, which Teixeira followed up with his punishing leg kicks that were starting to take their toll on Viana.

In a slow paced final round, Viana circled the cage as Teixeira looked to close the distance. Teixeira landed a late takedown, but Viana returned it to the feet where he held on for the tight victory.

The victory was made even sweeter for Viana, who received 25 percent of Teixeira’s purse after John failed to make weight at yesterday’s weigh-ins.

Thiago Perpétuo vs. Leonardo Mafra

TUF Brazil semifinalist Thiago “Bodao” Perpétuo overcame a slow start to finish off Leonardo Mafra with a third-round stoppage at 0:41.

Perpétuo came into the TUF house with a record of 8-1-1 and was eliminated in the TUF semifinals, but he had no such problem against Mafra.

Mafra was the aggressor early in the fight moving forward on Perpétuo, but he let his hands drop and was countered by Perpétuo, who was unable to land the final takedown after looking for a single leg.

Perpétuo took advantage of a tiring Mafra to land the first takedown, but Mafra took the arm of Bodao looking for the armbar. Some good submission defense by Perpétuo saw him break free and he cut Mafra with nasty elbows from the top position.

Perpétuo landed a big overhand right to open the final round. With Mafra hitting the mat, Perpétuo unloaded with more ground and pound to earn the victory.

“That is what we were training for,” said Perpétuo post fight. “We were both strikers and I planned to put him down.”

UFC 147-Preliminary Card Results:
-Rodrigo Damm def. Anistavio Medeiros by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:12, R1
-Francisco Trinaldo def. Delson Heleno by TKO at 4:21, R1
-John Teixeira vs. Hugo Viana def. John Teixeira by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-Thiago Perpétuo def. Leonardo Mafra by TKO at 0:41, R3
-Marcos Vanicius Borges Pancini def. Wagner Campos by TKO at 1:04, R3
-Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira – Draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)