Welcome to the UFC: Rodolfo Vieira

Rodolfo Vieira UFC Montevideo
Credit: ACA MMA Facebook

One of the best grapplers in MMA will make his way to the Octagon as Rodolfo Vieira is set to fight Oskar Piechota at UFC Montevideo.

The UFC is coming to Montevideo, Uruguay on August 10. The card is just now filling out with only a few bouts announced. That including two highly anticipated debuts (as of now), one of those being Rodolfo Vieira who will be taking on Oskar Piechota (11-1-1, 2-1 UFC), who is making his return after a year layoff.

“The Black Belt Hunter”
6’1″
Middleweight
29-years-old
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Grappling Fight Team
5-0
1 KO/TKO
4 Submissions (4 Rear-Naked Chokes)

How Will Rodolfo Vieira Fare in the UFC:

The Brazilian Vieira is well known for his career in BJJ. Vieira in his BJJ career has a record of 96-10 (on paper) with 62 submissions. Some of his accomplishments in grappling include UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro Champion, IBJJF Pans Champion, ADCC Champion, IBJJF World Champion, and much more. He’s 5-0 in MMA and has finished all his opponents, four of those in the first round. Vieira hasn’t shown much on the feet offensively besides good leg kicks. That’s because he doesn’t usually waste time before shooting for a takedown and getting the fight to the mat. Vieira has shown good wrestling, timing his shots and getting his hands together to complete the double leg takedown. The mat is his dojo, as he is a high-level grappler obviously with his background in BJJ. He’s very patient but still quick in his transitions, easily going to the mount and the back easily. Vieira has four wins by submission all by rear-naked choke and his other win is by ground and pound. At only 5-0 fighting against not that good of competition, a lot of him is still unknown. He’s purely a grappler so if he can’t get a takedown, he will most likely struggle. Vieira has gone to the third round once as his gas tank held up but his pace did slow. It’s hard to say how he will do against top competition.

How He Matches Up with Oskar Piechota:

Piechota came into the UFC with a lot of hype and really looked good in his first two UFC fights. In his last fight though, he took a lot of damage in a loss to Gerald Meerschaert. Piechota is primarily a grappler who is a former ADCC Europe champion. It will be really interesting if this fight hits the mat with both being BJJ practitioners. Striking-wise, Piechota has some big power in his hands and has grown into a better striker. While his striking isn’t high-level at all, he is still way more experienced there than Vieira. Both being good grapplers, Piechota isn’t the best wrestler whereas Vieira has shown good wrestling but against bad competition. Piechota has had some problems with his cardio and that has led to his defense lacking on the feet and his takedown defense eventually failing him. It’s a super close fight but I’m leaning Piechota due to his experience and I think he could very well land the big shot to put Vieira away early.