All for nothing: Showboater Michel Pereira dances, flips, jumps – and LOSES at UFC Vancouver (VIDEO)
by مخبر
All for nothing: Showboater Michel Pereira dances, flips, jumps – and LOSES at UFC Vancouver (VIDEO)
Brazilian Michel Pereira produced one of the most spectacular first-round displays we’ve ever seen inside the octagon, but his stunning moves all came to nothing as he was defeated by newcomer Tristan Connelly at UFC Vancouver.
Pereira, who missed weight for his welterweight bout on Saturday night, faced off against undersized opposition, with Connelly moving up from his usual weight class of lightweight to take on the Brazilian on just FIVE days’ notice.
And the uber-confident Brazilian clearly felt he had all the aces as he danced his way to the octagon with his coaching team in a six-minute choreographed routine.
Then, when the action got underway, “Demolidor” produced a stunning array of moves, including a Superman punch, spins, flips and runs off the cage as he looked to claim another spectacular finish against his largely unheralded opponent.
But while Pereira was leaping, flipping and spinning his way around the cage, Connelly was biding his time. The Vancouver native weathered the early storm, then took the fight to the Brazilian as he pushed the pace.
Pereira started to slow down in the second round as co-commentator and former two-weight world champion Daniel Cormier commented that we’d seen the end of the Brazilian’s flips and tricks, and Pereira now had to earn his win.
But Connelly was the man in the ascendency as he used his black belt grappling skills to dominate the final round as the crowd rose to their feet to roar their approval for the local fighter as he spent the final seconds of the fight on top, battering Pereira with ground strikes.
When the verdict came, the judges all scored the fight in favor of the Canadian, as the roof nearly came off the Rogers Arena as fans hailed their man’s remarkable, gritty UFC debut victory.
