Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight Vinny Magalhaes lost his last fight to Anthony Perosh via knockout in the first round (just 14 seconds into the fight) and said after the fight that if he was cut from the UFC, he would end his career. He has now changed his mind saying that he was too emotional following the loss to think straight. Instead of retirement, Magalhaes will compete in Hawaii on Nov. 9 against Jeff Monson in a heavyweight fight at Global Warrior Challenge 2: USA vs. Brazil.
Magalhaes is one of the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the world, but has fallen on hard times since losing in the light heavyweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter against Ryan Bader. He was only 2-2 in his professional career at that stage, but had a lot of upside. He lost his first two fights in the UFC and was released soon after. He would go onto have a 7-1 mark outside the UFC before being called back. He won his first fight against Igor Pokrajac before losing his last two to Phil Davis and Perosh.
Monson, now 42 is certainly at the backend of his MMA career and is far from being relevant in the sport. He holds a 49-15-1 record and has lost two straight. In his last important fight, he lost to Fedor Emelianenko in M-1 Global in 2011 and hasn’t gotten any major wins in his career since 2009 when he beat Roy Nelson and Ricco Rodriguez.
There is a lot of skepticism on the Internet message boards about whether this event will actually take place considering all the drama and cancellations that came with the first GWC card. Should the event go through, team USA would consist of Monson, Drew Fickett, Kendall Grove, Ed West, Jake Huen, Dennis Hallman, Ray Cooper, Jerome Martinez and Tony Hervey.
