A light heavyweight fight between Thiago Santos and Eryk Anders was not what Brazilian fans expected to see on Saturday, but it turned into a pretty entertaining affair.
Santos (18-6), of Rio de Janeiro, defeated Eryk Anders (11-2) via TKO at 5:00 of the third round, after Anders collapsed multiple times trying to get to his stool. The 205-pound bout headlined UFC Fight Night inside Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Originally, Saturday's event was supposed to feature a fight between Glover Teixeira and Jimi Manuwa. After Teixeira went down with a shoulder injury in August, Santos agreed to move up from middleweight to face Manuwa. Earlier this month, however, Manuwa also went down with an injury. Anders, another middleweight, agreed to move up and face Santos on six days' notice.
"Winning and losing is part of the sport, part of life -- but what matters is how you act outside of the Octagon," Santos said, through an interpreter. "I have to thank Eryk Anders for taking this fight."
Although the fight was somewhat hastily thrown together, it delivered plenty of action. Santos, 34, rocked Anders early with kicks to the body and flurries along the fence. Anders, a former linebacker at Alabama University, ate the heavy shots well, however, and responded with a handful of big left hands of his own.
The tide seemed to turn in Anders' favor early in the third, as he took Santos down and nearly secured a rear-naked choke from the back. Santos managed to escape the position, and unloaded punches on Anders once they got back to their feet. The round came to a close with Anders desperately attempting a takedown, and Santos landing elbows to the side of the head.
Anders tried to make it back to his corner, but he was clearly hurt and exhausted, which forced the referee to wave it off.
Santos has discussed the possibility of a permanent move to 205 pounds in the past. He dedicated the win, his first main event, to his father.
Nogueira returns from lengthy layoff, knocks out Alvey
In his first appearance in nearly two years, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (23-8) scored an upset knockout over Sam Alvey (33-11) at 1:00 of the second round.
Prior to Saturday, Nogueira, 42, hadn't fought since November 2016, due to injury and a six-month suspension for taking a contaminated supplement. The twin brother of legendary heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira showed he still has plenty of power left, as he rocked Alvey with several left hands.
Alvey, who had won two in a row prior to the loss, out-struck Nogueira early, but failed to recover once he was hurt in the second round. He backed up to fence and ate a hard overhand left. He was in the process of a desperate single leg takedown attempt when the referee waved off the bout.
Nogueira, of Brazil, picks up his first win since May 2016.