Newcomers Lucas Fernando made his debut in a light heavyweight clash with Rafael Tobias at UFC 330 in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The all-Brazilian match-up saw Fernando, an LFA champ who had defended his belt there twice, jump straight to the UFC and bypass the Contender Series. Tobias had gone through the show, only to lose his debut, leaving him still in search of his first UFC victory.
Fernando started hot, attacking with kicks to the body and head before catching Tobias with a right hand. He applied pressure immediately, mixing his attacks well. He whiffed on a wheel kick but followed it up with a nice combination to the body. Fernando was fighting behind his kicks extremely well, constantly going low and to the body and giving Tobias a lot to think about. He wasn’t neglecting his hands either, mixing in the jab and one-two.
In the clinch, Tobias had an opportunity to potentially get Fernando down but instead ate a brutal knee to the body. Back at range, Fernando landed another hard body kick and calf kick. Tobias eventually caught one of the kicks and put Fernando on his back, but he did nothing with the position. Fernando quickly worked his way back to his feet before the bell.
Fernando opened the second round with three hard calf kicks before landing a jab that sat Tobias down. He welcomed Tobias back to his feet with a big right hand and then narrowly missed on another wheel kick. Things settled down from there, with Fernando continuing to slowly pick Tobias apart.
He kept looking for the head kick, but he was at his best when keeping things basic. By this point, Tobias looked completely lost, struggling to get anything going. Fernando mixed his attacks so well and attacked all three levels that Tobias simply froze.
Going into the third round, Tobias needed to find some kind of miracle. He came out with an early flurry, but Fernando soon had him stuck at range again with the leg kicks and jab. One leg kick actually buckled Tobias, but Fernando didn’t rush in looking for the finish. Shortly after, though, he landed a nasty knee to the body. Tobias had enough, and the fight was over after a few more strikes, mainly elbows, rained down.
Official Result: Lucas Fernando def. Rafael Tobias by TKO (knee to body and elbows), Round 3, 1:10
