Strawweight Gigi Canuto was eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter 34 earlier this week, at least in terms of airdate (the show wrapped filming a while back), but on Saturday she made her promotional debut at UFC Vegas 120, taking on Carol Foro.
Foro was also making her promotional debut, 11 months after winning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
The fight started with a hard outside leg kick from Foro, followed by another soon after. She was already attacking all three levels, mixing her shots between the body and head. Foro was doing a nice job with her left hand, consistently finding the head and body. Surprisingly, Canuto chose to stand and trade early, and she was getting chewed up for it. Foro eventually stunned her with a left hook.
Canuto recovered and finally shot for a takedown, but it wasn’t particularly close. She wasn’t landing much in the first round outside of a few calf kicks that didn’t seem to have much effect. She would land during exchanges, but going punch-for-punch with Foro was not a good idea. At range, Foro was ripping the body and pouring on the pressure. In the final seconds, she landed some big shots clean on the chin to close out a dominant first round.
Canuto clearly needed a takedown in the second round to swing the momentum back in her favor, and she came out with a nice right hand into a level change. She got Foro down, and as Foro scrambled back up, she gave up her back. Canuto was immediately in her world, locking in a body triangle and threatening the choke. Foro worked her way to her knees while fighting the wrist, and Canuto landed some soft punches from the back. Foro was completely focused on defending the submission, which allowed Canuto to land a steady stream of unanswered ground-and-pound.
Canuto released the body triangle late in the round to hunt for a kimura, but she ran out of time. Heading into the third, the fight was clearly evened up, and both fighters knew exactly where they wanted it.
Just 20 seconds into the round, Canuto didn’t like the pressure and shot for another takedown. She came close, but Foro defended and immediately went back to marching forward. Foro was letting her hands do the talking, really putting it on Canuto. Canuto shot again but couldn’t keep Foro down for long.
With the takedowns not coming, Canuto was being forced to brawl, and Foro was happy to oblige. Canuto was still landing, but she was visibly tired and her hands were starting to drop. She became aggressive with a single-leg attempt against the cage, but Foro defended extremely well while landing some nasty elbows to the side of the head.
Canuto dug deep, cut the corner, and finally secured the takedown. Foro was suddenly in serious danger as Canuto locked in a fully extended armbar. Somehow, Foro escaped, and the two went back to swinging until the final bell in an insanely fun fight to start the card.
Foro would come away with the decision, later admitting that Canuto was the most technical opponent she had ever faced.
Official Result: Carol Foro def. Gigi Canuto by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
