Michel Pereira’s flashy striking ability got the better of a game Andre Fialho by unanimous decision tonight at UFC 270.
Round One:
Failho with a hook to start and another punch behind it. He tries a spinning kick and it misses. Pereira with a front kick to the body.
Pereira lands the front kick again. Now a jab to the body. Pereira pushes off the cage for a superman punch and then continues to run forward throwing more left and right hands.
Fialho now pressing forward looking to pressure the acrobatic striker. Pereira lands another front kick. Now a reaching right hand.
Failho clocks Pereira with a solid jab that knocks him off-balance slightly. Jab lands again without as much impact this time.
One-two for Pereira to the body. Now a front kick to the midsection again. Calf kick now. Fialho attempts to double-up on the jab. Pereira connects with a straight right.
Fialho lands a couple of clean punches as Pereira is backed up against the cage. Front kick to the body for Pereira.
lateral movement from Pereira. Jumping knee attempt from Pereira. One-two for him after Fialho comes up short.
One-two from fialho and then tries to land another punch as Pereira is moving defensively. Pereira with some blood to his nose now.
Pereira lands a straight. left hand for him. Knee attempt and Pereira slips off that. Failho gets on top and lands a brief ground-and-pound flurry before the round ends.
Round Two:
Right hand gets through for Pereira. Wide right hand from him lands as Fialho was looking to let his hands go. Calf kick from Pereira.
Pereira ducks into a solid right hand. Fialho lands, but Pereira counters with hard punches that snap his head back. Pereira jumps into knee strikes as he continues to attack.
Thumping front kick to the body from Pereira. Now a front flip kick that actually lands, but Fialho remains upright.
Pereira looking to break through Fialho’s guard with punches, but then Fialho lands a hard punch of his own to serve as a reminder that he’s still in this fight.
Pereira targets the body and head with another punishing combo. Fialho definitely wilting under this pressure now. Pereira with another flurry and then clinches up, with Fialho now bleeding from a nasty cut to the left eye.
Spinning wheel kick from Pereira misses. He lands a right hand. Jab for Fialho. He goes back to the front kick to the body.
Superman punch off the cage from Pereira doesn’t land cleanly. Both men trade in close. Fialho with the jab. Pereira kicks to the leg and punches upstairs. Inside leg kicks from Pereira and then a straight to the head.
Pereira steps in with a hard right hand. Now he lands to the body and suddenly switches things up with a takedown. Fialho takes some deep breaths and starts to attempt to stand up as the round ends.
Round Three:
Nice let hand for Pereira. Body punch and one upstairs now. Calf kick lands. Superman punch off the cage attempted. Front kick to the body.
Fialho marching forward and lands a jab. Right hand from Pereira, front kick to the body and a calf kick too.
Another front kick from Pereira. Pereira backs away from a punch then returns fire with strikes of his own.
nice left hook for Pereira. Front kick to the body yet again. A couple of punches upstairs. He attempts a takedown that sends Fialho reaching for the mat for a moment then rights himself.
Fialho with a nice body / head punch combo. Fialho now works into the clinch against the cage. Pereira able to escape though.
Right hand for Pereira, then a body kick. He’s tiring a bit, but still offensive. Hook for Pereira as Fialho is looking to land too.
Jab for Fialho. He’s pressuring again and lands the jab. Another body kick for Pereira. Right hand from Fialho.
Hard jab from Fialho stopped Pereira in his tracks for a moment. Pereira tries for the front kick to the body, but it strays close to the groin and forces a pause in the action as Fialho attempts to recover from the illegal blow.
Fialho recovers enough to continue. left hand from Pereira. Fialho pushes forward. Pereira aborting on a jumping knee attempt and gets caught by punches in return from Fialho. They then look to slug it out at close range in the final few seconds of the fight with Pereira landing cleaner and we’re headed to the judges scorecards here.
Result
Pereira’s eye-catching, all-action style was very effective tonight at times, though Fialho got the better of the opening round with his crisp boxing and was competitive in the third round. In the end though it was Pereira who did enough to emerge with a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
