Priscila Cachoeira’s raw aggression helped her sway the judges in her favor tonight at UFC Fight Night 202 as she claimed a hard-hitting unanimous decision victory over Ji Yeon Kim.
Round One:
Cachoeira takes the center of the octagon as Kim flicks out the jab. Overhand from Cachoeira misses. Leg kick for her.
Leg kick for Kim and Cachoeira just misses with a wide hook. Jab for Kim. Cachoeira hurling more hooks without landing.
Inside leg kick for Kim and punches behind it. Another inside leg kick lands. Hook lands for Cachoeira. Both ladies land in close.
Cachoeira wading in with hooks again, but Kim tags her with a few cleaner punches. The action slows a little for now and Kim lands a couple of leg kicks.
Missed head kick from Kim and Cachoeira counters with a winging punch. Cachoeira surprises Kim by landing a takedown off a kick from her opponent to end the round on a high note.
Round Two:
Jabs traded. Missed leg kick from Kim. Nice counter right from Kim. Left hook from Cachoeira. Jab for Kim. One-two for Kim.
Cachoeira with telegraphed power shots that Kim is mostly avoiding so far. Cachoeira trying to land punches to the body but not finding the target. Kim counters another winging punch. Right hand for Cachoeira.
Superwoman punch from Cachoeira lands. Straight right for Kim. Good left hook from Kim. They engage in a brief firefight at close range and emerge relatively unscathed.
Cachoeira presses forward aggressively and eats a jab for her troubles. Inside leg kick for Kim. Jab lands a couple of times cleanly for Kim.
Kim counters with a right hand after aggressive punch attempts from Cachoeira. A punch does get through for Cachoeira. Kim back to picking her moments to land against the forward pressure from her opponent.
Another superwoman punch from Cachoeira and then punches behind it. Cachoeira turning up the heat and is starting to get Kim to engage with her as they throw caution to the wind in the pocket. Kim still able to pick her shots better as the round comes to an end.
Round Three:
Nice three-piece combo from Kim and Cachoeira wobbled a little bit from the hook at the end of that. However, that just fires Cachoeira up to come back strongly with aggressive punches of her own that start to land hard.
Kim eats them though and then lands another good punch that hurts Cachoeira, who has swelling to both cheeks.
Kim with a couple of heavy punches. Right hand lands nicely for Cachoeira though. Overhand from her. Jabs still landing for Kim.
Again she beats Cachoeira to the punch with the jab. Cachoeira walks into another jab. Another big punch. overhand right from Cachoeira.
Jab then a one-two behind it from Kim. Even harder one-two for Kim and then another right hand. Cachoeira stepping into huge elbow and a couple do land well.
Kim still tagging her, but she’s bleeding heavily from a cut to the side of the face now from one of those elbows.
Punches land for Kim but she can’t fend off the ultra-aggressive Cachoeira who is wading in with more massive elbow strikes.
Jumping knee from Cachoeira catches Kim, who looks a little troubled now. Cachoeira throwing absolutely everything into these elbow strikes and opens up another cut to the left side of Kim’s increasingly swollen face.
No quit in either fighter here as Kim is still firing back with punches when she can, but Cachoeira certainly having some significant success to end the round though.
Decision:
What a war that turned out to be, particularly in the final round as Cachoeira went all-in and landed some devastating elbows to cut Kim badly. However, Kim’s striking had been far more accurate and consistent elsewhere in the fight and she had left Cachoeira’s face bloodied and swollen too.
In the end it seemed like Kim’s earlier work in the first two rounds may have been enough to edge out the win, but no, the judges see it differently and it’s Cachoeira who wins by unanimous decision (29-28 x3).
