The night was almost perfect for the Brazilian fans in the Nilson Nelson Gymnnasium, in Brazil’s capital, Brasília.
With the exception of Igor Araujo, all Brazilian fighters in the card came out of the octagon with wins.
Within the main card, Jessica Andrade was impressive against Larissa Pacheco, Iuri Alcantara had a tough match against Russell Doane and Santiago Ponzinibbio Tkoed Wendell Oliveira.
Later on, Leo Santos used his world class Jiu-Jitsu to annul Efrain Escudeiro’s strinking and win by unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, Gleison Tibau, the Brazilian with most appearances in the UFC, defeated Piotr Hallman in a close match by split decision.
When the main event moment came, homeboy Big Foot Silva was regarded as the favorite by most of the specialists but underdog Andrei Arlovski was determined to prove them wrong.
And so he did.
The Pitbull, a guy who has been fighting non-stop for 15 years, showed everybody that he is still in the mix at the UFC heavyweight division.
“I wanted to retire, but my new coach told me that I still have much to give. Now I feel that i have the right people around me and I want to continue to pursue my dream,” said Arlovski in one of the countdown videos.
In the octagon, he seemed more sure of himself and despite some good kicks from Silva was never in any real trouble.
Right around midway into the first round, Arlovski connected a huge right hand that sent Silva to the ground.
A few more hammer fists did the job and his 22 victory in MMA was in the books.
Here are the full results of the night.
UFC Fight Night Brasília – Big Foot vs. Arlovski
Main Card
Andrei Arlovski defeated Antonio Bigfoot Silva by KO at 2:59 of R1
Gleison Tibau defeated Piotr Hallman by split decision (28-29,29-28, 29-28)
Leonardo Santos defeated Efrain Escudero by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Santiago Ponzinibbio (171) defeated Wendell Oliveira by TKO at 1:20 of R1
Iuri Alcantara defeated Russell Doane by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jessica Andrade defeated Larissa Pacheco by submission (guillotine) at 4:33 of R1
Preliminary Card
Godofredo Pepey Castro defeated Dashon Johnson by submission (armbar) at 4:29 of R1
George Sullivan defeated Igor Araujo by KO at 2:31 of R2
Francisco Trinaldo defeated Leandro Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sean Spencer defeated Paulo Thiago by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rani Yahya defeated Johnny Bedford by submission (kimura) at 2:40 of R2