UFC Fight Night 29 results, photos: Yan Cabral outgrapples David Mitchell

BARUERI, Brazil – Yan Cabral made cage rust look like an absolute myth.

Fighting for the first time in more than two years, the Brazilian stayed a couple steps ahead of David Mitchell for 15 minutes for a unanimous decision win in his UFC debut.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 29 event at Jose Correa Arena in Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil. It aired on FOX Sports 1 ahead of the main card on the same channel.

Mitchell pushed forward early against Cabral, who had much promise on “TUF: Brazil 2? before getting injured, forcing him off the show. Cabral took Mitchell down in quick order and nearly took his back. Mitchell tried to work his way out without giving his back in full, and he got to half-guard. But Cabral didn’t mess around there and jumped to full mount.

After a brief Mitchell heel hook attempt, Cabral got to side control and then took Mitchell’s back – but Mitchell defended the choke. Eventually, he was able to work his way back to the feet and the fight went back to the center of the cage with a minute left. Mitchell tried a spinning backfist, but that just allowed Cabral to control him again on the feet to wind down the round.

Quickly into the second, Cabral landed a big right hand that dropped Mitchell to his knees. Cabral pounced right away, but couldn’t finish the American, who countered with a foot lock to stave off the Brazilian for the time being. Cabral went to work on an arm-triangle choke, but again Mitchell defended. Mitchell had a good armbar attempt, but Cabral deftly rolled out of it, then defended Mitchell’s omoplata attempt, as well.

Mitchell came out in the third with a sense of urgency, looking to land punches along the fence. But Cabral tied him up to keep the potential damage at a minimum. A minute in, Mitchell missed with a punch, and Cabral easily took him to the canvas. With three minutes left, Cabral jumped to full mount. Again, Mitchell was good defensively, but he certainly wasn’t scoring points. He tried to be as offensive as he could on the ground, and got close with a triangle choke with a minute left. But Cabral popped his head out to continue going after submissions as time ran out on Mitchell.

When the scorecards were in, it was clean sweep for Cabral, who took a 30-27 on all three cards.

“There’s always extra pressure on a debut,” Cabral said. “I was a bit anxious, but when I got inside the octagon, I felt right at home. I got a bit tired in the third round, but that’s normal. Now I’ll come back even better and more prepared to put on an even better show.”

Cabral (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), fighting for the first time in more than two years, stayed unbeaten. Mitchell (12-4 MMA, 1-4 UFC) now has lost back-to-back fights and four of his past five.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 29 results include:

• Yan Cabral def. David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Chris Cariaso def. Iliarde Santos via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:31
• Alan Patrick def. Garett Whiteley via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:54

For more on UFC Fight Night 29, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Barueri.