Mikey Musumeci and Cassia Moura both defended their belts at UFC BJJ 8, with the pair of champion bantamweights adding to their already impressive highlight reels.
Both pound-for-pound talents came in as heavy favorites, as Musumeci took on a game but relatively unheralded opponent in Kevin Dantlzer, while Moura faced a late replacement in Sabrina Gondim. The two champions did their jobs and made it look relatively easy though, despite Musumeci revealing that he was dealing with outside adversity on this one.
‘Very ill’ Mikey Musumeci wins despite staph infection, Moura and Tackett get subs
Musumeci came out aggressive with his patented leg entries, before eventually finishing Dantzler with a nasty modified heel hook just two minutes and 15 seconds into the contest. After the match he announced that he competed in spats to cover up a staph infection.
“I didn’t really know if I was going to be able to compete tonight,” Musumeci said after his match. “I had a really bad staph infection, I had a 101 fever. I’m very ill right now… It really affected my mind and my body. The antibiotics are strong. That’s why I’m wearing spats right now, it’s covering the infection.”
He then called out a much larger UFC lightweight contender.
“I expect to compete with Arman (Tsarukyan) next, hopefully in the end of August. I just hope I won’t have any infections by then,” he said.
In the co-main event, Moura dealt with some early adversity after a nice throw from the judo expert in Sabrina Gondim seconds into their match, but went on to adjust and dominate soon after. The UFC BJJ women’s bantamweight champion managed a pair of beautiful back takes, and while she ran out of time in the first round, she managed to finish with a rear naked choke in the second stanza.
Moura has continued her impressive run and won her inaugural title defense, after previously defeating ADCC champ Ffion Davies in March to win the UFC BJJ bantamweight belt. After the contest, she asked for an opportunity to drop to flyweight and become a two-division champion at UFC BJJ.
Much like the co-main event, the third featured bout was also changed at the last minute. Former UFC BJJ title contender William Tackett made quick work over late replacement Manuel Ribamar, and got an early heel hook submission win. The older brother of welterweight champ Andrew Tackett, got back in the win column after dropping his UFC BJJ title shot against Ronaldo Junior.
Crelinsten brothers land the same chokes at UFC BJJ 8
The Tackett Brothers aren’t the only siblings doing well in UFC BJJ. Another pair of brothers shined in their debuts at UFC BJJ 8, with Polaris champ Ethan Crelinsten and his younger brother Liam Crelinsten both getting impressive rear naked choke wins.
Simple Man Martial Arts (formerly B-Team) star Ethan Crelinsten awkwardly called for his UFC BJJ shot after winning his Polaris title bout, then completely dominated in his debut against Danilo Moreira. After a quick and easy rear naked choke win, he called for a UFC BJJ title bout.
His 21-year-old brother Liam had a longer match, and showcased a lot more of his guard game. He turned multiple leg entries into sweeps, before also getting a rear naked choke win over Max Livingston in the second round.
Also in the UFC BJJ 8 card, Polaris champ Keith Krikorian won a rematch with EBI champ Landon Elmore, as he completely shut down the 19-year-old prodigy’s leg lock game.
Check here for complete results from UFC BJJ 8, along with highlights and full video of the entire event.
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