Alex Oliveira earned himself a TKO finish in the third round against Will Brooks tonight at UFC Fight Night 96.
Round One:
Oliveria with a hard leg kick and then a kick in return from Brooks with less snap to it. Oliveira pushes Brooks up against the cage.
Knee to the leg from Oliveira. Knee to the body. Brooks with a short knee of his own. Oliveira trying to work for a takedown, but Brooks showing good defense.
Oliveira continues to press Brooks up against the cage working for the takedown while landing the occasion knee. Brooks with the occasional knee to as he continues to frustrate ‘Cowboy’. Now Brooks reverses the position and he’s able to do what Oliveira couldn’t – landing a big takedown.
To his credit Oliveira gets back up fairly quickly and pushes Brooks to the cage again. He goes for the single leg takedown, but he just can’t get Brooks down.
Brooks tries to bring Oliveira down again, but this time ‘Cowboy’ stays upright and is doggedly back to that clinch. Oliveira suddenly locks up a guillotine choke and drops down with it, but Brooks stays calm and rides out the remaining seconds until the end of the round.
Round Two:
Brooks works for an early takedown and lands it very nicely, moving straight into full mount. Oliveira to his knee and tries to stand, but Brooks takes his back and latches onto it as he gets upright.
Oliveira manages to get Brook off him, then lands a big knee to the body. Then he goes for a takedown and this time lands it. That’s big for him, though Brooks is quickly back up again.
Oliveira stays tight to him though and tries to take him down again, then settles for the clinch against the cage. Soon after Oliveira is able to bring Brooks back to the mat though.
A couple of heavy elbows drop for Oliveira. Brooks nicely scrambles and stands up, but can’t get away from Oliveira’s relentless clinch work.
Nicely done by Brooks there as he lands a huge takedown. Oliveira back up, but it’s deja vu as Brooks latches onto his back when he stands.
Brooks comes off his back and works into the clinch looking for a takedown that he can’t finish before the end of the round. Brooks walks away apparently in pain, perhaps from a rib injury.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Brooks, and another. He tries again, but Oliveira lands a right hand that drops the former Bellator champ. Brooks quickly back up, but now he’s stuck against the cage again in the clinch.
Oliveira with a takedown. Brooks stands, and Oliveira drives him into the cage. Knee to the leg and a knee to the head. He brings Brooks down again and gets into half guard.
This is a more secure position to work from and he starts to land some ground and pound. He’s really starting to pick up the intensity now, landing repeated blows to Brooks head, and that’s it, the ref has called an end to the fight at 3.30mins of the third round, handing Oliveira a big TKO win.
Afterwards Oliveira motions in an insulting manner at Brooks, and the former Bellator champ is not happy about it, getting back up and going after the winner. The ref holds him back, but Brooks does launch his mouthpiece at his rival before they are fully separated.
