The numbers from UFC BJJ 7, held last Thursday, the 2nd, made the card even more appealing. There were three title fights, two new champions and five matches won by submission on an eight-bout card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
Andrew Tackett was the only champion in action at UFC BJJ 7 who held on to his title. In the main event, Andrew faced veteran Vagner Rocha, an athlete used to going toe-to-toe with the young guns. In the 2024 ADCC final, he gave Mica Galvão a tough fight for the title. Against Tackett, it was no different, even though the champion was more clearly dominant in the second and third rounds. With the result, a unanimous decision win, Andrew stays on top of the welterweight division for another stretch. He won that title at the first edition of the UFC’s Jiu-Jitsu league.
Lucas Valente, a no-gi world champion, is the new UFC BJJ belt holder. In the co-main event of the seventh edition, Valente challenged Carlos Henrique, who had been the lightweight champion. Confident in his offensive game, Valente showed more volume on the attack and took control of the match. In the third round, Lucas went after Carlos’s foot and found the submission that handed him the belt. Before joining the UFC’s Jiu-Jitsu league, Lucas was coming off a four-fight winning streak in pro MMA, all by submission.
REBECA LIMA BECOMES THE SECOND BRUNO BASTOS ATHLETE TO WIN A UFC BJJ TITLE; CÁSSIA MOURA DID IT AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION
One impressive performance, a submission in her debut, was all Rebeca Lima needed to punch her ticket to a title fight at UFC BJJ. The Rio de Janeiro native’s goal was to take the belt from France’s Aurelie Le Vern, the promotion’s reigning women’s featherweight champion. Clearly hungry for the win at UFC BJJ 7, Rebeca was the more aggressive athlete from the start. She put the champion in real submission danger, but Aurelie survived back control and a choke attempt. In the third round, Aurelie imposed more of her game, attacking the Brazilian’s leg, but Rebeca defended and countered. In the end, Rebeca was declared champion by unanimous decision. With the belt, she becomes the second Bruno Bastos athlete to pull off the feat. At UFC BJJ 6, Cassia Moura beat Ffion Davies to claim the women’s bantamweight title.
Renato Canuto secured a win over Chile’s Yonathan Cardenas on the UFC BJJ 7 card in Las Vegas. Hunting the submission the whole time, Canuto forced Cardenas into a defensive posture just to survive and look for a response. Determined to finish with an arm-triangle, Renato went for it again in the third round, but Yonathan has a warrior’s spirit and managed to defend. The Brazilian got his hand raised by unanimous decision.
ALWAYS AGGRESSIVE: COACHED BY BRUNO FRAZATTO AT UFC BJJ 7, ADELE FORNARINO ADDS ANOTHER SUBMISSION WIN TO HER RÉSUMÉ
Adele Fornarino, an ADCC weight-class and open class champion, added another submission win to her résumé. Now representing Bruno Frazatto’s academy, Adele faced Alex Enriquez and settled the match quickly. Extremely dangerous with her leg entries, Fornarino pulled off one of her specialties. With both athletes already on the mat, she grabbed Alex’s leg and finished with a kneebar.
Declan Moody delivered the third straight submission on the UFC BJJ 7 card. Declan, originally scheduled to face Nicholas Meregali, ended up on a collision course with Patrick Gaudio, who took the match without time for a camp. In the first round, Declan took control of the match and took Gaudio’s back, catching him with a rear-naked choke.
Raphael Ferreira put on an excellent display of aggressive Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC BJJ bowl. Against Kenzo Biyong, in the second match of the card, the American brown belt opened the fight by securing mount. Building on his dominant position, Raphael ended up on his opponent’s back and got the submission with a rear-naked choke.
Rana Willink got the better of Brazil’s Carol Joia in the first match of the UFC BJJ 7 card in Las Vegas. Carol struggled a bit with her bottom game in the first round and invested heavily in takedown attempts. Rana turned more offensive in the second and third rounds, focusing on Joia’s legs, until she finished with a kneebar.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
