Rodrigo Nascimento opened up UFC on ESPN 8 the right way with a second-round stoppage victory against Don’Tale Mayes.
Opening up Saturday night’s final of three UFC events in Jacksonville, Florida, was a pair of heavyweights. The UFC on ESPN 8 card (originally an event slated for Columbus, Ohio in March) had Rodrigo Nascimento and Don’Tale Mayes pull the curtain.
Mayes had won his way into the UFC on the Contender Series but lost his debut. Rodrigo Nascimento was making his debut, meanwhile, after his own successful appearance on the show last year.
Both get right into it to start the fight with a heavy kicking attack. Nascimento closed the distance, grabbing the body lock and working hard for the takedown. Mayes is a super big dude and was able to eventually break free. Nascimento was still marching forward, getting some punches through on Mayes. Mayes continued throwing kicks and Nascimento kept walking through them. Nascimento, after locking up with Mayes, was able to take the fight to the mat. Mayes did get back to his feet but did nothing to possibly win the round back.
Nascimento came out strong in round two, landing a kick to the leg and then to the head landing briefly. Mayes started to do a nice job in the clinch, landing strikes to the body before Nascimento tripped him to the mat. As Mayes tried to get back to his feet, Nascimento jumped on the back quickly and sunk in the RNC forcing Mayes to tap.
WENT TO WORK! 👏
🇧🇷 Nascimento gets the RD2 sub on @ESPN. #UFCFL pic.twitter.com/7O8U2qsZYi
— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2020
After the win, Nascimento called out Chase Sherman, who recently made a successful return to the UFC. Michael Bisping thanked him for making a reasonable call out and not asking for a top-ten fighter right out of the gate.
Rodrigo Nascimento def. Don’Tale Mayes by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 2 (2:05)
