Wellington Turman took on fellow Brazilian Markus Perez in Perez’s home city at UFC Sao Paulo on Saturday night.
Opening up the main card at UFC Sao Paulo, Brazil’s own Markus Perez, born in Sao Paulo, took on Wellington Turman. Turman was coming off a loss in his promotional debut against Karl Roberson, and was in his opponent’s back yard for this middleweight battle. The event took place Saturday night at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Perez opend with kick that missed the mark, and Turman rushed forward with a combination that backed Perez into the fence. He then went for the single-leg, but Perez defended and spun it around. Turman worked free and briefly got the back of Perez, then put him to the mat, only for Perez to spring back to his feet. Turman still had the back of Perez, and worked for the takedown but Perez defended well. He worked to press Turman into the cage before he landed a flurry of punches, then backed away. Turman was quick to come forward and two exchanged before Perez missed a spinning head kick. Turman answered with a spinning backfist followed by a kick that also missed the target. Perez continued to look for the kick and mixed it up going for the body and head of Turman, but Turman continued to press forward looking to land. Turman landed a nice right shortly before the round came to a close.
Perez came out looking to work the jab in the second before Turman landed a leg kick. Turman again rushed forward looking to land a combination. Perez continued to use his movement and varied attacks to score but again Turman kept moving forward, eventually getting a body lock and put Perez on the mat. Perez again worked to his feet quickly but now Turman was on his back and looked to secure the takedown. Perez spun out of the position as Turman threw a kick that he caught and used to escape. The two exchanged briefly again, then returned to the middle of the cage and started to throw — with Perez landing a hard right on Turman. Still, Turman exchanged with him, landing his own blows before shooting in for the takedown. Perez fended off his attempt and with the round almost over the two men again went back to chucking leather as the horn sounded to end the frame.
One last touch of gloves in the third and the action continued, with Turman landing a front kick before rushing forward and landing another combination. Perez fired back, but Turman kept the pressure on. He got the clinch at the fence and landed a hard knee to the head of Perez. The two worked for position and again Perez gave up his back and again Turman looked to land knees to the head of Perez before he powered through with a take down. Once on the mat Turman looked to land punches and eventually ended up in mount, landing a few more shots before Perez broke free. But Turman was still on top and after a moment he worked into side control. From side control Turman looked to land more punches and elbows. Perez did all he could to defend and worked his back into the fence before getting back to his feet. Perez attempted to separate but Turman stick with him and again looked for the single. Perez however spun and landed an elbow. The two men, now exhausted, went into rock ’em sock ’em robot mode with both throwing wildly as the round came to a close.
Official Results: Wellington Turman def. Markus Perez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
