Outside Source
The Nova Uniao product on Tuesday called upon suffocating positional control and damaging ground-and-pound, as he took another step toward an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with a unanimous decision over Diego Bianchini in their welterweight quarterfinal on Season 33 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series. All three cageside judges scored the two-round encounter for Sezinando.
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Emotions appeared to play a role in the 10-minute confrontation, as the two men had been at odds all season. Bianchini turned to low-percentage spinning attacks that cost him valuable energy and yielded no rewards. Sezinando staggered him with a counter left hook in the first round, then hit the accelerator in the second. There, he sprawled on an attempted takedown, powered into top position and fed Bianchini a steady diet of elbows to the face, one of which opened a cut across the Fighting Nerds prospect’s nose. By the time it was over, there was little suspense involved with the decision.
“There was a ton of bad blood between these two guys leading up to the fight,” UFC CEO Dana White said. “When this happens, traditionally, everybody gets hyped up and excited [thinking] ‘these guys want to kill each other,’ and usually, the fight does not live up to expectations or to the hype.”
Daniel Cormier got what he wanted as Sezinando’s coach.
“Rodrigo, for the most part, stayed true to who he was,” he said. “You could tell that this kid has been in some big fights.”
Opposing coach Chael Sonnen offered another viewpoint after his top welterweight fell short of the mark when it mattered most.
“I felt terrible for Diego the entire time,” he said. “The pressure that the guys have put on him … our guys have elected him the baddest dude around, and Rodrigo’s team elected him the baddest dude around. There’s only one alpha. That’s just the way that it works.”
Afterward, the 28-year-old Sezinando looked to bury the hatchet with his countryman.
“I won the fight, and I told him at the end, ‘Let’s just move forward. You are an amazing athlete, and just keep doing what you are doing because you have an amazing future,’” he said. “I definitely feel amazing. I did very good work. I know I can do way better. I will train more to do better the next time.”
Bianchini showed humility in defeat.
“He gained my respect,” he said. “Rodrigo was better than me tonight. I just wish the best things for him. It is what it is.”
Once the proverbial dust had settled, Cormier and Sonnen turned their attention to setting the bracket for the semifinals. At welterweight, Team Sonnen’s Matt Dixon was paired with Team Cormier’s Daniel Donchenko in one semi, while Senzinando was pitted against Team Cormier stablemate Jefferson Creighton in the other. At flyweight, Team Cormier’s Idiris Alibi was matched with Team Sonnen’s Roybert Echeverria in the first semi, with Team Sonnen’s Joseph Morales slotted opposite Team Cormier’s Imanol Rodriguez in the second.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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