Felipe dos Santos vs. Andre Lima, UFC Vegas 97 Credit: UFC
Highly-touted flyweight contenders Andre Lima and Felipe dos Santos faced off in an all-Brazilian bout at UFC Las Vegas 97 on Saturday night.
Lima (9-0) had been a big star in the 125-pound division coming into this bout, winning back-to-back bouts over Igor Severino and Mitch Raposo this year, but came off an unfortunate loss to Severino after getting bitten by him, and showed what he could do at UFC 302 before coming back with a win.
Dos Santos (8-1) got off to a rough start to his career with two cancelled bouts in his UFC debut, and a loss to Manel Kape at UFC 293 made an already tough start even bleaker, but he got back on track with a win over Victor Altamirano in February.
About a minute into the bout, the fight was stopped due to a poke in the eye, giving Lima time to recover. When the bout resumed, Lima applied pressure and a couple of hard punches were exchanged. Dos Santos then went for a takedown, but Lima was able to fend it off. Dos Santos blocked a head kick from Lima, and the two regained some composure, moving, feinting, and throwing punches from time to time. Later in the round, Dos Santos landed a brief suplex takedown, lifting Lima up a few times before taking him down. However, Lima reversed, but Dos Santos quickly got back to his feet.
In the second round, dos Santos landed a powerful knee strike that allowed Lima to tie the score. Dos Santos escaped, but Lima easily scored a takedown just seconds later. Lima quickly got into mount position, leaving questions as to whether dos Santos had tired himself out from a takedown attempt in the first round. Despite having a dominant position, dos Santos survived the round, with Lima appearing to wait a little too long before starting his offense.
Lima took the back early in the third round and both fighters were on the ground. Lima secured a body lock just 30 seconds into the round and went deep for a rear-naked choke, but dos Santos was able to peel his hand away. Lima adjusted his grip, but Felipe dos Santos fought him off again. Andre Lima held onto the body lock for the rest of the round, and dos Santos survived until the final horn, but the fight was in Lima’s hands.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Andre Lima def. Felipe dos Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
