UFC Fight Night 144 Post-Mortem: Vintage Brazilian Beatdowns

Just like Magic

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 144 from Fortaleza, Brazil, fans were treated to a rematch between two highly-ranked Brazilian bantamweights looking to secure a title shot against reigning champion T.J. Dillashaw. In one corner, Raphael Assuncao, riding a four-fight win streak with his last loss coming to now-champion Dillashaw; and in the other corner, Marlon Moraes, riding a three-fight win streak including first-round finishes over his last two opponents.

The five-round main event began with both competitors feeling out their opponent, Assuncao throwing chopping low kicks while Moraes looked to establish his piston-like jab. Three minutes into the opening round, just as the fans in Fortaleza began to stir, Moraes uncorked two heavy right hands from the hip and had Assuncao crashing down to the octagon floor, Moraes not far behind smelling blood in the water. Assuncao looked to tie his opponent up and gather his wits but Moraes was having none of it, quickly working for ground-and-pound before snatching Assuncao’s neck and rolling into mount cranking tight on a guillotine choke that had Assuncao tapping within seconds. Just like magic, Marlon Moraes exacted revenge for his first and thus far only UFC loss.

Post-fight, Moraes thanked the fans of Brazil before going on to call out Dillashaw for a title bout later this year, joking that he wasn’t sure Dillashaw deserved to fight him after an unsuccessful drop to flyweight in his last bout.

The Aldo of Old

In the co-main event of the evening, former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo took on fifth-ranked featherweight contender Renato Carneiro. Both fighters came out tentative in the first round, throwing out jabs and low kicks. Neither fighter was willing to commit to a shot just yet but “Moicano” made great use of his height and reach advantage, keeping Aldo on the very end of his punches and getting the better of him in the majority of the early exchanges.

At the start of Round 2, Aldo landed hard to the head and then the body and sensed he had “Moicano” hurt. Like a bat out of hell, Aldo was all over him, blitzing him with heavy punches and knees as “Moicano” retreated along the fence. “Moicano” wasn’t fighting back and after one last knee and uppercut to the jaw, referee Jerin Valel stepped in and brought a stop to the fight. The win marked Aldo’s second finish in a row, a feat he had not accomplished since 2009.

As the referee stopped the fight, Aldo jumped into the crowd and embraced the Brazilian fans before jumping back into the cage and proclaiming into the microphone that while his thoughts on retirement remained unwavering even after a spectacular victory, he hopes to fight in Brazil again at UFC 237 in May.

Vintage Brazilian Beatdowns

Demian Maia went into UFC Fight Night 144 looking to rebound from a three-fight losing streak and despite having failed on his last 49 takedown attempts inside of the octagon, had no problem getting into grappling range with his opponent Lyman Good. A minute into the bout, Maia had Good on his back but struggled to keep him there. As Good stood, Maia managed to secure back control and began immediately looking for a rear-naked choke. Good fought off the choke for as long as he could but after Maia re-adjusted his grip, Good was forced to tap out quickly. The win marked Maia’s first win since 2017 and marked his 20th UFC win, the first Brazilian fighter in history to reach that milestone.

Charles Oliveira extended his record for the most submissions in UFC history to 13 with a win over surging lightweight prospect David Teymur. The fight began with immediate controversy as Teymur caught “Do Bronx” with a rake-like eye poke that caused the referee to take a point away upon replay. The foul seemed to motivate Oliveira, who marched forward looking to land heavy strikes for the remainder of the round. The second round began similarly, with Oliveira charging out guns blazing. Early in the round, Oliveira had Teymur hurt with a step-in elbow followed by an uppercut. Teymur retreated and Oliveira found his opening, jumping on an anaconda choke that had Teymur tapping almost instantly.

Johnny Walker picked up his second knockout victory in as many UFC fights with a lightning-quick victory over fellow light heavyweight prospect Justin Ledet. Right out of the gate Walker countered a combination from Ledet with a hook kick followed by a spinning back-fist that sent Ledet slumping to the canvas. Walker then launched a hellacious soccer kick that would have been completely illegal had it landed -- thankfully, it did not -- then uncorked a volley of vicious ground-and-pound until referee Eduardo Herdy stepped in to put a stop to the beating. Post-fight, Walker made it known he was looking to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible given how quickly the bout ended.