ALVES vs. TALEB
Rio’s Warlley Alves showed off a disciplined attack as his welterweight matchup with Montreal’s Nordine Taleb progressed, and in round two, the former Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner ended matters via submission, improving his perfect pro record to 10-0.
Alves’s usual aggressive attack was on display as the bout opened, and he caught a kick and took Taleb to the mat seconds into the contest. With nothing going on there, the two rose, and while Taleb scored well with his patient, jab-heavy attack, the big shot of the round was an Alves right hand that produced a flash knockdown.
After some good stand-up work by Taleb (11-3) early in round two, Alves got the bout to the mat and added to his lead with solid, yet unspectacular work there. As the two rose with a little over two minutes left, Taleb tried to get back on the board with a takedown, but he walked right into a guillotine choke that forced him to tap out at 4:11 of the second frame.
ALCANTARA vs. ISSA
Brazilian bantamweight contender Iuri Alcantara bounced back from a February loss to Frankie Saenz with a solid three-round unanimous decision victory over countryman Leandro Issa.
Scores were 29-28 twice and 29-27.
Alcantara blitzed Issa with strikes as soon as referee Osiris Maia brought the two to battle, and Issa went on the defensive until the bout went to the mat in the second minute. Alcantara kept pushing the action, but in a scramble, Issa got into the top spot and began working for his foe’s arm. Alcantara briefly got loose, but Issa regained control and got the mount, landing strikes before the round ended.
Able to keep out of trouble on the mat, Alcantara used his fists, particularly his left hand, to rock and drop Issa on a few occasions in round two, leading Issa to wobble to his corner after the round was over.
Alcantara was in complete control of the bout as the third stanza began, and even when the bout strayed to the mat in the final two minutes, he didn’t let up, drawing blood from his nose with more left hands. Once standing, Issa was clearly done, and Alcantara went for the finish, but the gutsy Sao Paulo product was able to make it to the final horn.
With the win, Para’s Alcantara moves to 32-6 with 1 NC; Issa falls to 13-5.
