By Dwight Wakabayashi
The Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season Two finale will take place this weekend from Ginasio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaliza and will feature a rematch between heavyweight contenders Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum. The card will also showcase the season two welterweight final as well as some of the best Brazilian fighters on the UFC roster like Thiago Silva, Rafael Calvacante and Erick Silva.
Before the main card gets going, seven fights are scheduled for the preliminary portion of the card, and will feature some of the most exciting, young Brazilian talent that the UFC has to offer.
Here is my complete preliminary card breakdown along with predictions for every fight.
Raphael Assuncao (19-4) vs. Vaughn Lee (13-8-1) – bantamweight
The feature fight on the prelim card is a hot bantamweight fight between two fighters looking to make a serious climb. Assuncao is on a three fight win streak and his game seems to evolve every time he steps in the cage. Lee is a very dangerous ground fighter who has been unable to put a streak together in the UFC. In light of this, Assuncao’s all-around game will simply be too much for Lee, and he will earn a contender in his next fight with the win.
Assuncao via submission, Rd 2
Ronny Markes (14-1) vs. Derek Brunson (10-2) – middleweight
Markes gets the home-cage advantage in this one against Brunson in this battle of the bigger boys. Markes has done nothing but win fights in the last three years but the Nova Uniao fighter is looking for his first finish in the UFC. Moreover, he will look for top position right away as his key to victory. On the other hand, Brunson is coming off the biggest win of his career against Chris Leben in his UFC debut last year, and will need to beat Markes at his own game if he wants to take home the win.
Markes via decision
Godofredo Pepey Castro (9-1) vs. Felipe Arantes (14-4-1) – featherweight
These two up-and-coming featherweight’s have both failed to put wins together in the UFC and will be looking to separate each other from the mass of mediocre fighters in the division. Castro is extremely efficient on the ground and on his feet and should be able to use that to keep Arantes off balance for the entire fight. On the other hand, Arantes is a Muay Thai fighter and a very good one at that with wins over Antonio Carvalho and an entertaining loss to Yuri Alcantara as his best examples of work in the UFC. This fight will depend entirely on his ability to keep it on the feet.
Castro via unanimous decision
Ildemar Alcantara (18-5) vs. Leandro Silva (11-0-1) – welterweight
Silva takes this fight as a replacement against Alcantara, who is dropping down to welterweight for the first time in this fight after submitting Wagner Prado in his UFC debut. He was originally supposed to face Jason High on this card, but High got moved up the card to face Erick Silva and the undefeated Leandro Silva is his new opponent. This is a huge opportunity for the grappling wizard but he is giving up a large advantage in size in this one. I just don’t see this as the best match up for his debut in the big show.
Alcantara via decision
Rodrigo Damm (10-6-0) vs. Mizuto Hirota (14-6-1) – featherweight
The last time we saw the Brazilian veteran Damm he lost a close decision to recently released Canadian Antonio Carvalho. That loss made it three losses in his last four and left Damm on the UFC bubble going into this fight. His experience and complete game gives him a chance against anyone, but his skills may be on the down side of the hill at this point in his career. Japanese fighter Hirota has two tough decision losses in a row and is also on the chopping block. Boxing is a huge part of Hirota’s game and if he can keep this fight standing, he should get the decision.
Hirota via decision
Caio Magalhaes (5-1) vs. Karlos Vemola (9-3) – middleweight
The bigger guys step in again in this one as Brazilian prospect Magalhaes gets another shot coming off a lackluster loss to Buddy Roberts in his debut. Magalhaes is a very green jiu jitsu fighter who needs to round out his game to be able to compete with guys like Karlos Vemola. Vemola has competed in three different weight classes in the UFC and remains at middleweight for the third fight in a row. Vemola is coming off a loss to Francis Carmont last July and has not fought yet this year, but he has faced much tougher competition and should be looking for a statement in this one.
Vemola via KO, Rd 1
