Following the Facebook prelims, UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen debuted on Fox Sports 1 with Featherweights Diego Brandao and Daniel Pineda opening up the preliminary card broadcast. The 145ers set the tone for the event with brawl that left them both exhausted by the final bell. They went from violent striking exchanges, to sweeps and ground-and-pound, to barnyard brawling in the 15 minute affair. In the end, Brandao outlasted Pineda to pick up the unanimous decision.
Weird start to the fight as officials cut the tape out from under Pineda’s ankle wraps. They exchanged combos early before Brandao landed a big punch that had Pineda reeling. Pineda dove in for an unsuccessful takedown and ate big shots coming up. Another takedown attempt and Brandao threw a lead kick as Pineda stood back up. Brandao landed multiple power combination right on Daniel’s chin, but Pineda would not go down. Takedown from Diego, but Pineda returned to his feet. Amazingly, Pineda looked like the fresher fighter in the final minute.
Right back at it to start round 2. Pineda mixed in some TKD kicks before pressuring forward with a combination. Diego hit a takedown, but stood back up after fending off a submission attempt from Pineda. Another takedown from Brandao. He got complacent on top, though, and Pineda reversed him into mount with a kimura attempt. Vicious elbow from pineda in mount, then a flurry of punches before Brandao finally escaped to guard. Leg lock attempt from Brandao, but Pineda defended well. Despite both fighters clearly losing steam, they’ve put on a spectacular fight so far.
Looping punches from both fighters before Brandao hit a takedown to start the last round. After some ineffective ground strikes, Brandao let Pineda up, but stepped in for a punch as Daniel got up. Another takedown from Brandao and not a lot happens before they get back up. Both fighters are exhausted and the fight got ugly. Brandao hit a third takedown and they each took a chance to catch their breath in guard. Pineda used the kimura attempt again to set up an escape to the feet only to be taken down again. Back-to-back wheel kick attempts from Pineda led to be countered heavily by Brandao for being lackadaisical. They finished the fight brawling.
Diego Brandao defeated Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)