Brazilian standout Pedro Falcao, a 2021 Contender Series winner who was snubbed of a contract despite a KO finish, finally made his way to the octagon on Saturday, paired up with Victor Hugo.
Falcao had accepted the UFC Vegas 90 bantamweight fight on all of four days’ notice; how that impacted his performance would be something to keep an eye on.
Falcao out of the gate was aggressive and closed the distance getting Hugo to the mat. He got on the back for a second but Hugo was able to get back to his feet. Hugo was dealing with a lot of forward pressure. He landed a heavy outside leg kick but Falcao was in on a leg soon after. Hugo got space and was throwing a ton of kicks getting some momentum. As he was pouring on the pressure he kicked Falcao in the groin pausing the fight. It really hurt Hugo as he was really pouring it on. That’s basically how the round ended.
In round two Falcao was bringing the pressure. Huge was calm and picking at Falcao with the kicks. Even landing a spinning kick to the body. Falcao would close the distance but couldn’t get Hugo down. Falcao was visibly tired and Hugo landed a hard outside leg kick. Falcao timed a nice entry into a double leg but didn’t seem to have the gas to complete it. He got in on a single leg but didn’t get that either. A spinning elbow missed from Hugo but again, Falcao couldn’t capitalize with a takedown. Falcao was at least controlling a large position of the round in the clinch. Hugo ended the round throwing his kicks to the leg, body, and the teep to the body.
In the final round, Hugo dropped Falcao early with a check left hook. He let Falcao back up but he recovered quickly. He took a head kick right after but he was right on the gas. Hugo landed a heavy spinning kick to the body that got a reaction from Falcao. It was to the groin but the ref failed to stop it. Falcao slowed it down with a takedown attempt but can’t actually ever get the fight down. He had a lot of good opportunities but Hugo continued to fight the wrist well. With a little over a minute left Falcao turned it up letting his hands go and was finding the target. Hugo did land a buckling leg kick but it wasn’t slowing Falcao down. Falcao didn’t trust his hands enough as he just looked to cage wrestle up until the final bell.
Official Result: Victor Hugo def. Pedro Falcao by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
