Rodrigo Nascimento and Alan Baudot opened up the UFC Vegas 31 card with a firefight.
Rodrigo Nascimento TKOs Alan Baudot at UFC Vegas 31
The expectation for the fight was that Nascimento, 28, would look to use his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills against French striker Baudot. And that was his approach in the opening round. He worked his striking against the knockout artist and looked to find the right moment to engage in the grappling. That came midway through the round, however, it did not go the way he wanted.
Baudot, 33, hammered away at his opponent with elbows as “Yogi Bear” attempted a double leg takedown against the cage. The blows worked as Nascimento abandoned his takedown attempt, and that eventually lead to a failed attempt at pulling guard and the fight returning to the feet. There Nascimento seemed a bit wobbly and took more damage before he was able to get to the end of the round.
In the second, Nascimento came back energized and went right after his opponent. Landing big punches and backed up “The Black Samurai.” Baudot’s defenses seemed to wither away and his opponent began to batter him. Eventually landing an uppercut that brought him to his knees against the cage. The end of the fight came at 3:30 in the round, after a ground-and-pound barrage by Nascimento.
The technical knockout is just the third finish from strikes of Nascimento’s career. He moves to 2-1 in the Octagon and bounces back from his October knockout loss to Chris Dauskaus.
Baudot has now lost both of his appearances inside the Octagon, with each coming by technical knockout.
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