The time: Wednesday night (Oct. 9, 2013) The place: Jose Correa Gymnasium in Bareuri, Brazil. The event: UFC Fight Night 29 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads down south to Brazil once again to fill a card full of their Brazilian talent, and it’s actually a pretty great card. There’s no Facebook prelims this time out, and we’ll be starting out on FOX Sports 1. The FOX Sports 1 prelims will be headlined by Ildemar Alcantara (19-5) who began his UFC career earlier this year in January when he kneebarred Wagner Prado into submission. Alcantara was a light heavyweight for that bout, but he’s since gone down to welterweight and will be doing the same for this battle against Igor Araujo (23-6) who was most recently featured on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 16. Despite their similar records, Alcantara may be the more complete fighter, but Araujo does hold a slight advantage on the feet. Araujo trains at Jackson’s MMA with their host of talent, but still seems to struggle when fighting upper-tier talent. Alcantara is legit in every way, currently undefeated in the UFC at 2-0, and could be an interesting up-and-coming talent in the welterweight division. Yan Cabral (10-0) could possibly have won TUF Brazil 2: Big Nog vs. Werdum if not for a broken hand, but now he’s fully mended, with his last official fight being a submission win over the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba at Dream 17. Cabral, simply put, is a submission specialist, finishing all ten of his fights via some form of tapout. He’s a BJJ demigod, and is trouble for anyone if he gets them to the mat. He works well of his back, has a nasty takedown, but of course, lacks somewhat in the stand up department, which is where Dave Mitchell (12-3) will want to keep him. Mitchell has lost 3 of his last 4 fights since entering the UFC, with his lone win coming coming in the form of a unanimous decision over Simeon Thoresen at UFC on FOX 5. Mitchell is no slouch on the mat, but he’s no match for Cabral. The flyweights enter the Octagon next, with Iliarde Santos (27-8-1-1) looking to end a two-fight losing streak against a man also on a two-fight losing streak in Chris Cariaso (14-5). Cariaso has a long history with Zuffa, dating back to the end of the WEC, and he’s done alright in the Octagon, 4-3 and 1-1 in the WEC. Both of these men could likely be fighting for a job here, and it must be said that unless Cariaso can take down Santos, it could be a tough night. Santos is a finisher, with 12 knockouts and six submission wins. Cariaso is a bit of a grinder with developing stand up, but he has a hard time finishing opponents, with only two knockouts and two submissions in his career. He also lets fights become far too close, which, to be fair, is due to his heart and general X factor, but Santos will be coming out looking for a kill, not a split decision. Opening the show is a lightweight bout, with Allan Patrick (10-0) making his UFC debut against another undefeated man making his UFC debut in Garret Whiteley (8-0). Both of these men are extremely interesting prospects, with Whiteley finishing all but one of his fights in the first round in the Midwest independent scene (a tough circuit), and Patrick fighting mostly in Brazil. This looks like it could be an extremely evenly-matched fight, so the home crowd in Brazil could help out Patrick. The Brazilian crowd is especially nuts during the first fight or so, and one can only wonder how that will affect Whiteley. The American is a better wrestler, and has heavy hands, but Patrick is extremely well-rounded, and trains with Jacare Souza. This could be a really good fight for the opener.
