Lucas Almeida proved Dana White right after he stopped Mike Trizano with an impressive third-round knockout at UFC Vegas 56.
The UFC president kept a close eye on Almeida after he came up short in the UFC’s Contender Series, and the Brazilian made the most of his opportunity after inking a deal with the promotion for his debut on Saturday. After a heated exchange in the first round, Almeida landed a massive counter left hook to spin Trizano about and send him to the ground.
Almeida continued with an avalanche of punches to the ground. With Trizano only covering his face to survive, it was impossible for the referee to end the fight. The third round ended at 55 second.
“We are grateful to Dana White, for giving us this chance and believing in our abilities,” Almeida shouted. “I’m going to clear out this division. It was going to be hard. When I woke up, God had told me that it would be a battle and that I would win .”
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Trizano, aiming for his first win in the Octagon, was the one who head-hunted Almeida early on and frequently throughout the fight. There were many wild exchanges between the fighters during the first round. Trizano almost got the highlight-reel knockout he wanted after clipping Almeida using a clever counter left hook. This put Almeida on wobbly feet.
Trizano then followed up with a perfectly timed knee strike. Almeida, however, was able enough to survive to the end.
Almeida looked completely healed by the restart of the second. He was also stronger on his feet and began to tag Trizano using some difficult combinations. Almeida then returned the favor with a left hook of his own that put Trizano on the canvas, although the TUF veteran was able to hold on enough to recover off his back.
Almeida was looking for more punishment and he clashed with Trizano. This caused a severe cut to Trizano’s right eyebrow. Although Trizano managed to go on, blood started to pour down his face from the Almeida headbutt.
In the end, it didn’t really matter that the cut was made. Almedia allowed the fight to continue for just a few seconds more.
As Trizano came forward with another big combination to start the final round, Almeida countered with the left hook that led to the jaw-rattling finish.
The win helps Almeida kick off his UFC career in style as he moves to 14-1 overall, while Trizano drops his second consecutive loss in a row with a 1-3 resume in his past four fights.
