Denmark’s Nicolas Dalby made the trip to Brazil on Saturday, where he was paired up with The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 winner Warlley Alves in welterweight action.
Dalby had picked up a win last time out, defeating Claudio Silva at July’s UFC London card. Alves for his part was coming into the night off a loss to Jeremiah Wells.
Round one began with an early blitz from Warlley Alves, exactly as you’d expect. A slip from the Brazilian brought on a clinch initiation from Dalby, but Alves controlled the clinch with an under-hook. Dalby did a good job of turning Alves on the fence and landed a few knees to the body, softening the Brazilian brawler up. A break in clinch saw the fight get back to the middle of the Octagon with Alves landing a few punishing leg kicks.
Alves began investing in the body kicks to try and slow down the pressure of the Dane. Again, Dalby recognised the weakness of Alves and once again initiated the clinch where he was able to dominate once more. A few oblique kicks from Alves saw the round finish.
The lead leg of Dalby was once again the target Alves was aiming for to begin round two, which was unusually followed by a level change from Alves. Dalby tried throwing up a triangle attempt, but Alves did well to slip out of it. Despite getting Dalby down to the ground, he wasn’t able to make it pay, and failed to land a single shot whilst on the ground. Nicolas Dalby looked the far fresher of the two come the midway point of round two and his striking was an example of that. A huge right elbow followed by a trade of right hands saw round two spring into life. Dalby not only threw with more volume in round two, but he also seemingly landed the more damaging shots.
Coming into round three, Dalby still looked the fresher of the two fighters. However, Alves came out like a man possessed, knowing he could very well need the finish. The experience of Dalby once again noticed the danger of trading with Alves, and he again took the fight to the cage and wore on Alves with the clinch. Despite how Alves’ cardio had held up in previous fights, he came into this one in great shape, and that was exemplified in the final minutes of round three. The two began trading straight punches with just over a minute left in the frame, with Dalby gaining a second wind. To see out the third and final round, Dalby finished the fight off how he began it, with Alves up against the cage in the clinch.
Come the scorecards, two judges saw it for Dalby, no small feat in enemy territory.
Official Result: Nicolas Dalby def. Warlley Alves by split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)
