BH fighter suffers brutal knockout in UFC headline fight in Vegas

When he entered the octagon at the Apex – the UFC's event center in Nevada, USA – on Saturday night (4/27), 31-year-old Matheus Nicolaou, from Belo Horizonte, was the heavyweight flyweight favorite. After all, the Minas Gerais athlete's opponent, 32-year-old North American Alex Perez, was coming off a three-game losing streak in the world's premier mixed martial arts league.

Furthermore, Perez accepted the fight against Nicolau a few weeks ago, meaning he only had a few days to prepare. First, the BH fighter's opponent in this edition of the UFC will be Angolan Manel Kabi. However, he suffered a rib injury and was ruled out of the event.

What was seen in Apex was widespread American dominance in the main battle of the night. Alex Perez rehabilitated himself in the UFC by inflicting a brutal knockout on the BH fighter, with a right cross, in the second round.

With this setback, Matthews Nikolaou, who is currently ranked fifth in the flyweight rankings, is expected to drop some positions. He had already lost to fellow American Brandon Ruffal in April of last year.

BH fighter gets a tough knockout