Bantamweight action on the UFC 271 preliminary card saw Brazilian vet Douglas Silva de Andrade up against Sergey Morozov.
Entering his third bout in the promotion, Morozov was coming off his first win, over Khalid Taha last July. Andrade, meanwhile, had knocked out Gaetano Pirrello back in October.
Silva de Andrade was busy early, firing kicks and combos that hit air until a low kick landed just under a minute in. Morozov might have been slower to get going, but when he did get down to business, he seemed to land everything — rocking Silva de Andrade, then knocking him down. Morozov then opted to go to the ground with the Brazilian, working inside his opponent’s guard. He went body-head, then stood up while still in Silva de Andrade’s closed guard. Back down, Morozov opened up a nasty cut with an elbow, in a round that was increasingly favoring the Kazakhstani fighter. And when Silva de Andrade got up, Morozov smashed him with a knee.
Morozov would finish the round with a takedown, leaving no question as to who had won the first five minutes. Silva de Andrade had a nasty gash, though luckily, it was to the side of the eye, so less likely to impede his vision.
In round two, Douglas Silva de Andrade came storming back. He cracked Morozov early, then moved in for the kill, wobbling Morozov and dropping him along the fence. Morozov would survive, and later look for a takedown, unable to land it. Morozov then fired a spinning back fist, sailing wide. A eye poke then caught Silva de Andrade, pausing the action. On the restart, Silva de Andrade almost immediately dropped Morozov with an overhand right! As he got back up, the Brazilian caught his opponent with a knee, returning the favor from the first round. Silva de Andrade would then rock Morozov by the fence, take the back, and hunt for the rear-naked choke with over two minutes remaining. Body triangle locked in, Silva de Andrade went to work, and when Morozov turned the wrong way, the Brazilian had him. Morozov went out — the second technical submission in a row on the UFC 271 preliminary card.
WHAT A COMEBACK BY @DSilva_MMA 🤯
[ #UFC271 | Early Prelims are LIVE on @UFCFightPass & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/7Wuhm51MDO
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2022
Official Result: Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Sergey Morozov by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 3:34
