UFC Fight Night 36 results, photos: Viscardi Andrade's gaffe opens door for Nicholas Musoke

JARAGUA DO SUL, Brazil – Viscardi Andrade was sure he’d won after dropping Nicholas Musoke with a right hand midway through the first round. He was so sure, in fact, that he stopped to celebrate, which turned out to be a bad idea, as Musoke not only survived the round, but roared back in the next two en route to a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

The welterweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 36 event at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

“The moment I hit him, he rolled his eyes and stopped, so I lifted my arms,” Andrade said. “Then he moved, the referee told us to continue, and it was too late. It was stupid.”

In Andrade’s defense, the punch that dropped Musoke was a good one, and one that probably would have knocked out most men. It’s just that Musoke isn’t one of them, which Andrade realized too late.

His premature celebration gave Musoke the chance to recover, and by the time the second round started, he had his legs back under him and his wits about him. Musoke blitzed Andrade right away in that round and then dominated him on the mat in the third, all while Andrade continued to look like a man who couldn’t believe what a great opportunity he’d let slip through his fingers.

Just a little over 10 minutes after he’d posed in the center of the cage with his hands raised in triumph, he stood in nearly the same spot with his head hung low, listening to the judges’ decision with a look of exhausted resignation. As for Musoke, he got to celebrate for real, and not a moment too soon.

“It’s never the plan to get hit that hard in the beginning,” Musoke said. “All in all, happy with the win, but not at all with my performance, especially with the way the fight started.”

Musoke (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has now won two straight in the UFC. Andrade (17-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) suffers his first defeat since 2011.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 36 results include:

• Nicholas Musoke def. Viscardi Andrade via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Charles Oliveira def. Andy Ogle via submission (triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:40
• Joe Proctor def. Cristiano Marcello via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Rodrigo Damm def. Ivan Jorge via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Francisco Trinaldo def. Jesse Ronson via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
• Yuri Alcantara def. Wilson Reis via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
• Felipe Arantes def. Maximo Blanco via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
• Ildemar Alcantara def. Albert Tumenov via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
• Zubaira Tukhugov def. Douglas de Andrade via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 36, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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