UFC Fight Night 32 results: Sam Sicilia snaps skid, drills Godofredo Pepey

GOIANIA, Brazil – To say Sam Sicilia needed a win, and needed it badly, would be an understatement.

So he just went ahead and got one with an exclamation point. The “TUF 15? veteran snapped a two-fight skid by stopping Godofredo Pepey with some big right hands in the first round.

The featherweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 32 event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Goias, Brazil. It streamed on MMAjunkie.com ahead of a main card on FOX Sports.

Pepey threw an overhand right that was off the mark as Sicilia stayed in the center and tried to back the Brazilian up early. Pepey went after a single-leg takedown, but Sicilia defended and wound up on top. He sat up and landed a couple punches, then postured up and landed.

Pepey threw up some upkicks that nearly caught the American. So Sicilia went back down and landed several huge right hands. As referee Dan Miragliotta looked in, warning Pepey to protect himself, Sicilia landed three more until he got the stoppage.

“I looked to them, and wherever they wanted to get him knocked out – on the ground, in the air, it didn’t matter,” Sicilia said. “I had a rough rookie year in the UFC. I wasn’t outgunned by anyone, but I had a couple losses to tough guys. So I should be fighting tougher guys. I’ll just keep working and I’ll go knock somebody else out.”

Sicilia (12-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) got a crucial win for his first victory since the TUF 15 Finale in June 2012. Pepey (9-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) lost for the second straight time after a June TKO loss to Felipe Arantes and now has dropped three of his past four after starting a perfect 8-0 to his career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 32 results include:

• Sam Sicilia def. Godofredo Pepey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:42
• Omari Akhmedov def. Thiago Perpetuo via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:31
• Thiago Tavares def. Justin Salas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:38
• Adriano Martins def. Daron Cruickshank via submission (kimura) – Round 2, 2:49
• Dustin Ortiz def. Jose Maria via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:19

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 32, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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