UFC 283 saw the world’s premiere mixed martial arts promotion return to Brazil on Saturday, its first trip to the South American MMA stronghold in nearly three years.
The event, transpiring in Rio De Janeiro, brought with it two title fights, six debuting fighters, and a small army of Brazilian talent, including five fighters on the main card alone. Among them, former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade was matched up in a flyweight bout with ex-title challenger Lauren Murphy, while Johnny Walker kicked off the Pay-Per-View opposite Paul Craig.
Gilbert Burns drew Neil Magny as an opponent, with a fight with Jorge Masvidal unable to come together. But it was the title fights on Saturday that were the real draw: in the co-main event, Brandon Moreno, holding interim gold, was up against champ Deiveson Figueiredo for an unprecedented fourth time. With their career series tied at 1-1-1, this likely final fight was expected to put to rest the question of who the better flyweight was once and for all.
In the main event, Glover Teixeira, age 43, looked to become a two-time champion against Jamahal Hill. The road to this fight had been a roller coaster, with Teixeira initially booked into a rematch with Jiri Prochazka last month. When Prochazka suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to vacate the UFC’s light heavyweight title, Teixeira pulled out of the fight as well, rather than face a short-notice replacement. Instead, ex-champ Jan Blachowicz and surging contender Magomed Ankalaev faced off — and fought to a draw.
That left the title vacant, and allowed the UFC to shift to Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill, rather than rebooking what most considered a dull affair between Blachowicz and Ankalaev.
Could Glover ascend to the top of the mountain once more, this time at home in Brazil?
Following Saturday’s UFC 283 Pay-Per-View, tune in for the post-fight press conference to keep up with all the developing storylines. A live stream is available in the embed above.
