A massive and raucous crowd at the Arena da Baixada filed in early to watch UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic in Curitiba, Brazil. The feature bout on the televised prelims pitted Matt Brown, booed for flipping off the Brazilian fans at Friday’s weigh-ins, against Brazilian welterweight contender Demian Maia. Here are the results of all four FS1 preliminary card bouts:
Demian Maia def. Matt Brown via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:31 of round 3 – Welterweights
Maia took Brown down in the first 40 seconds and immediately went for the back mount. The BJJ wizard was basically a human backpack until they hit the ground again. Maia worked on the rear-naked choke but Brown kept calm. Demian kept searching for the submission but Brown was able to reverse and get into Maia’s guard to end the 1st. Maia’s first couple of takedowns in the 2nd were stuffed, but he dragged Brown’s left leg the 3rd time and got him down. He coolly took his back again and worked for the RNC, which Brown thwarted. Another armbar attempt by Maia to end the 2nd was unsuccessful, but after 10 minutes, Brown had virtually zero offense. He did stuff the first few shots in the 3rd, and may have hurt Maia with punches after the stuff, but Demian looked to have played the role of possum there. Brown followed him to the ground, which was a big mistake, as Maia swept Brown and returned to his role of dominance on the mat. This time, his rear-naked choke worked, and Maia tapped out Brown with just under 30 seconds left in the fight.
Grappling beast Demian Maia does it again! A beautiful rear naked choke gets him a win over Matt Brown. #UFC198 https://t.co/MxEyI0fMj1
— FS1 (@FS1) May 15, 2016
Thiago Santos def. Nate Marquardt via KO (punches) at 3:39 of round 1 – Middleweights
Santos dropped Marquardt with about 2 minutes left in the 1st round after planting him with a short left hand. Marquardt survived the initial onslaught, then got blasted with a combination of punches, the last one a left hook that sent him tumbling to the canvas for the end of the fight. Santos has now won his last 4 bouts, while Marquardt is 2-6 in his last 8.
Vicious knockout win for Thiago Santos! What a devastating display of Muay Thai striking! #UFC198 https://t.co/jyjSKxHJcJ
— FS1 (@FS1) May 15, 2016
Francisco Trinaldo def. Yancy Medeiros via unanimous decision (29-26, 30-27, 29-26) – Lightweights
Much of the 1st was spent in a clinch battle, with one man trying to take down the other. Trinaldo opened things up with his boxing, tagging Medeiros often and hard. Medeiros was badly hurt and on queer street for the final 90 seconds of hte 1st, eating vicious right hooks and power left hands from the 37-year-old Brazilian. Amazingly, Medeiros survived the round. Trinaldo kept pouring on the offense, and he hurt Medeiros again with a head kick after he failed to gain top control from the front headlock position. Medeiros again stayed upright and avoided getting finished. A tiring Trinaldo was dramatically dropped with a left hook and a right hand at the end of the 2nd, but he survived that moment of craziness. Round 3 was purely bonkers. Trinaldo hurt Medeiros with a left to the temple, and they swung away until Medeiros dropped to the canvas. Somehow, Medeiros didn’t go out. Trinaldo blasted Medeiros with humongous punches, then had him on his back and dropping elbows, but still couldn’t put him away. Each time Medeiros got back to his feet he was basically unable to stand. Dan Miragliotta didn’t stop the fight, and Medeiros somehow ended the round on top but clearly beaten. What a wild fight, and what an astonishing way for Trinaldo to get his 6th straight win in the UFC.
John Lineker def. Rob Font via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-26) – Bantamweights
Lineker pressured Font from start to finish in the opening round, going to the body early and often. Font tried to keep Lineker off with his jab and his reach advantage, but Lineker wasn’t deterred from going forward and landing big shots. The Brazilian secured a takedown late in the 1st, got some ground-and-pound in, and then Font was able to get back up to his feet. Font had more offensive success in round 2, maintaining the jab but adding in some uppercuts on the counter. Lineker continued to pressure, throw leg kicks, go to the body, and have Font mostly on the defensive. The 3rd round was a dominant one for Lineker, who continued to wreck Font’s lead leg, get his flurries in, take Font down, hurt him with body shots, and any sort of offense he felt like doing. A real complete performance by John Lineker to make him 2-0 since he formally returned to the bantamweight division.
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