Jungle Fight 156, held last Saturday, the 24th, at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, crowned the champions of the second edition of the Fight do Milhão. In the main event, Nágila Goku beat Bianca Sattelmayer by TKO after the doctor kept her opponent from coming out for the fifth round. In the co-main event, Fabrício Bakai claimed the welterweight title when Ernane Pimenta twisted his right knee early in the second round. Each pocketed R$500,000, half of the tournament’s total prize money.
The night celebrated two stories of persistence. Nágila needed a second chance to reach the top, after falling in the first round of the tournament last year. Bakai, 37, entered the Fight do Milhão as a short-notice replacement, with 72 hours to prepare, and left São Paulo as champion.
SECOND CHANCE SEIZED: NÁGILA GOKU PUNISHES SATTELMAYER AND BECOMES STRAWWEIGHT CHAMPION
The women’s final was frantic from the start. In the first round, Bianca Sattelmayer tried to impose herself on the feet and even got on top looking for ground and pound, but Nágila came on late in the round, opened a cut on her rival’s face and landed a takedown. From the second round on, the São Paulo fighter landed more straight shots and had a slight edge in the third as well, a slower round fought mostly standing. In the fourth, Bianca took the fight to the ground again but lost her grip, and Nágila answered with a hard blitz of strikes to the face.
Bianca survived the round, but was checked by the doctor between rounds and not allowed to continue. The TKO was recorded at the five-minute mark of the fourth round. On her way to the final, Nágila had beaten Fabrizia Ketlinn by unanimous decision and submitted Regiane Borges in the semifinal. At 33, she now has eight wins in nine fights; her only loss came in last year’s Fight do Milhão, at flyweight, to Brena Cardozo.
The champion dedicated the title to Allan ‘Puro Osso’, a team member who recently passed away. “Allan, wherever you are, my brother, I won! Be proud!” she shouted into the microphone.
ERNANE PIMENTA’S INJURY ENDS THE FINAL AND FABRÍCIO BAKAI TAKES THE WELTERWEIGHT TITLE
The men’s final started out measured. A minute and a half in, Bakai caught a kick from Ernane Pimenta and took the Jungle Fight welterweight champion down. When Ernane got back up, the Piauí native quickly took his back and spent much of the round locked on, punishing his rival, who was already bleeding from the nose. With 14 seconds left, the referee flagged strikes to the back of the head and stood them up, with no time left for anything else.
Early in the second round, Bakai shot on Ernane’s right leg against the fence and moved to the waist. When he put in a hook, Ernane lost his balance and appeared to twist his right knee. He went down screaming in pain, the fight was stopped at the 30-second mark and his opponent left the cage on a stretcher. Bakai, who lives in Varginha, Minas Gerais, wished his rival a quick recovery. “I also want to thank my opponent, and I hope he isn’t seriously injured,” he said.
On his way to the final, Bakai beat Martin Farley by unanimous decision and then knocked out Matheus ‘The Monster’ in the semifinal. With the title, the Piauí native moves to 27 wins, eight losses and one draw, on a ten-fight unbeaten streak, as The Mat Nation reported in the preview of the Fight do Milhão finals, with the stories of the four finalists who made it to Ibirapuera.
FULL RESULTS FROM JUNGLE FIGHT 156:
FIGHT DO MILHÃO FINAL (STRAWWEIGHT)
Nágila Goku def. Bianca Sattelmayer by TKO at 5:00 of R4
FIGHT DO MILHÃO FINAL (WELTERWEIGHT)
Fabrício Bakai def. Ernane Pimenta by retirement at 0:30 of R2
Rafael Cabeça def. Matheus Araújo by KO at 1:42 of R1
Regiane Borges def. Day Monster by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-26 and 29-26)
Hugo Cunha def. Wilian Roberto by submission at 2:17 of R2
Cleiton Rocha def. Manoel Aranha by KO at 2:11 of R1
Marcos Dinamite def. Lucas Karateca by TKO at 4:40 of R2
Lorrany Santos def. Queila Braga by split decision (29-28, 28-29 and 29-28)
Túlio Macena def. Rafael Sanson by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27 and 30-27)
Diego dos Anjos def. Matheus da Silveira by TKO at 1:03 of R1
Matheus Lima def. Diogo Pink by KO at 2:44 of R3
Hari Menezes def. Lucas Schmidt by submission at 3:16 of R1
Ulisses Silva def. Felipe Alves by submission at 0:41 of R1
Luis Felipe Vieira def. Augusto Machado by submission at 1:23 of R2
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
