UFC Fight Night 36 results, photos: Yuri Alcantara edges Wilson Reis via split

JARAGUA DO SUL, Brazil – For 10 minutes, Brazilian bantamweights Yuri Alcantara and Wilson Reis traded positions in a dizzying display of technique.

Although judges disagreed on the victor, two of three scored the bout for Alcantara, who followed his younger brother, Ildemar, to the winner’s circle.

The 135-pound contest was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 36 event at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of the main card on FOX Sports 1.

Alcantara, 33, was the more flatfooted of the two fighters and was rocked early by the wild-swinging Reis, who dropped him and leapt on his back. But as he would repeatedly demonstrate, he found a reversal and evened the score with ground and pound.

The two repeatedly traded positions on the mat, but Alcantara nearly finished the fight in the first when he dropped Reis with a left hand. Reis, though, managed to escape and take top position. He wasn’t able to hold the position long before Alcantara reversed.

Reis scored a takedown in the third and looked on his way to grinding out the final frame, but Alcantara again found top position and finished the bout with a flurry of strikes from top position.

Two judges scored the fight for Alcantara with 30-27 and 29-27 tallies, but a dissenting judge called it for Reis, 29-28.

“It was a hard and even fight,” Alcantara said. “It could have gone either way. He is an experienced guy. My strategy was to avoid his takedowns, and I believe I did that very well in the third round. I was able to end on top. I’m aware I didn’t fight well today, but the plan is to get better and better.”

Alcantara (29-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) reverses a recent loss to Urijah Faber while Reis (17-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) goes back to the drawing board after a recent win against Ivan Menjivar.

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

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.