SHOOTO 55 was live from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this evening with a 14-fight card. Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz provided color commentary for the broadcast, which was live via UFC Fight Pass for the first time in promotional history. It is also worth noting that referee Eduardo Herdy officiated four of the bouts on the card. In the very first fight of the Brazilian evening, bantamweight Daniel Hortegas defeated Vitor Siqueira via first round armbar submission. Hortegas advances to 3-1 and returns to the win column, while Siqueira falls to 1-4. In the second fight of the night, coming in the flyweight division, Matheus Malta defeated Murilo Morques via submission in the very first round of action. This bout started to play out almost identically to the previous bout, with Malta immediately taking the fight to the mat and finding an armbar. However, Morques did a very good job defending, but ended up getting caught in a triangle choke during a transition which Malta took great advantage of. Ultimately, Malta advances to 2-0 as a pro, while Morques drops to 0-2. Staying in the flyweight division, Bruno Suema defeated Victor Nunes via rear naked choke submission with less than a minute remaining in the third and final round of action. After controlling the majority of the bout with his top control and ground and pound, he took Nunes’ back for the third time, which clearly was the charm, as he sunk in the choke to earn a quick tap from the fellow Brazilian. Suema rises to 11-2 as a professional mixed martial artist and now enjoys a three fight winning streak. While it was a solid win, I don’t think it was enough to get him a call from Sean Shelby and the UFC. Nunes unfortunately falls to 5-3 and is 1-3 in his last four outings, after starting out at 4-0. Still in the 125-pound division, Cleverson Silva defeated Elvis Da Silva via knockout in the third round of action in a very entertaining mixed martial arts affair. He remains undefeated at 4-0, while Da Silva drops to 6-4. Next up in the featherweight division, Rafael Bernardo defeated Marco Prado via TKO in the very first round of action. Both Brazilians traded shots in what was a thrilling contest that culminated with Bernardo dropping Prado and then following up with more strikes to earn the TKO stoppage and ultimately pick up his first win as a professional mixed martial artist. He becomes 1-1 and Prado drops to 1-3. That’s five fights and five finishes. Back in the flyweight division, we saw the first fight of the evening to reach the full three round distance, despite the fight being nearly finished multiple times. It was a very entertaining back and forth scrap that saw two 125-pounders make their professional debuts, and it was ultimately Nova Uniao product Rafael Macapo who walked away with the unanimous decision victor over a very game Ronald Castro. Cage-side commentator and UFC bantamweight Dominic Cruz stated that Macapo has a bright future in the sport, and I am inclined to agree with the former champ. Needless to say, Macapo is now 1-0 and Castro is 0-1. Further down in the strawweight division, Jonathans Silva defeated Danilo Gomes via second round knockout. He landed five flying knees, and it was the fifth one that forced the referee to step in and call off the action. The fight was a completely one-sided affair in favor of Nova Uniao’s Silva, who dominated Gomes on the feet for the entirety of the contest. He advances to 2-1 as a professional mixed martial artist, and Gomes, after playing the role of a punching bag, falls to a winless 0-2. Back up in the flyweight division, we saw a second bout go the distance, as Klinger Ferreira defeats Adailton Silva via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. Ferreira got the better of Silva both on the feet and on the mat throughout the 15-minute contest, hurting and nearly finishing him multiple times. Ferreira remains undefeated at 2-0 as a pro, while Silva drops to a .500 record of 2-2. Keeping things in the flyweight division, Willis Pereira defeated Leonardo Moura via split decision on the judges’ scorecards following three closely contested rounds of action. With the win, Pereira climbs to a professional mixed martial arts record of 3-2, while Moura sees his two-fight winning streak snapped and falls to 2-2. Back in the bantamweight division, Jones Murilo defeated Thiago Belo via TKO in the second round of action. Both 135-pounders traded in entertaining exchanges, until an uppercut from Murilo finally put Belo down. Murilo climbs to a .500 pro record of 3-3, and Belo drops to 5-4-1. Sticking with the bantamweight division, Jose Milton scored a big upset by knocking out 135-pound prospect Alexandre Aspera at only 0:18 into the very first round of action. With the highlight-reel finish under his belt, Milton moves past a .500 record up to 5-4, while Aspera drops to 6-2. Returning to the flyweight division for the next bout, Irmeson Oliveira defeated Michael William via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three dominant rounds of action. He advances to 12-3, while William slides to 11-6. The co-main event of the evening was the heaviest bout of the night and it came in the welterweight division, as Fabio Ventura made his professional MMA debut against undefeated 3-0 pro Joel Soares. Following three rounds of action, the judges’ ruled the contest a draw, due to the referee deducting a point (without warning) from Ventura for a fence-grab. He grabbed the cage while pressuring Soares against the cage and used the grab to dig in with his knee strikes, which the referee immediately noticed. The main event of the evening was another flyweight contest and this one saw 20-year old Leonardo Limberger defeat veteran Jamil Silveira via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action. The upset win takes Limberger up to 7-1 as a professional mixed martial artist and puts him on a four-fight winning streak, potentially earning a call from the big show. With the loss, Silveira sees his 10-fight unbeaten streak snapped and slips to 42-16-1. 14 fights, eight finishes. All in all, Shooto 55 produced a solid night of scraps from Rio de Janeiro last night.
