Last night, the UFC touched down in sun soaked Fortaleza, Brazil, with UFC Fight Night 106.
This card was a stacked one as far as Fight Nights go. In the evening’s middleweight main event, we saw former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum maul former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort to a first-round TKO win. Other highlights of the main card included another highlight-reel Edson Barboza knockout, a nice submission win from Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, and close battles between Bethe Correia and Marion Reneau and Ray Borg and Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva.
The undercard, meanwhile, featured some nice wins from talent like Kevin Lee, Joe Soto and Sergio Moraes, as well as the final fight of “The People’s Warrior” Joshua Burkman, who came up short to the dangerous Michel “Trator” Prazeres.
And then, of course, there was the co-main event, which pitted former Pride Grand Prix winner and UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against dangerous New Yorker Gian Villante. In this anticipated light heavyweight showdown, Shogun turned back the clock, out-striking his much greener foe to a crackling, third-round TKO win.
Unsurprisingly, Shogun’s win generated some big reactions from the members of the MMA community – particularly from those who are old enough to remember his dominance in the Pride era. Without further ado, here are some of the best reaction’s to his stoppage defeat of Gian Villante.
https://twitter.com/CubSwanson/status/840796020929773568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/CubSwanson/status/840798401268662272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
One for the old school! Beautiful variety of punches. Unbelievable he's still going at this top level of the sport. #Hespect #UFCFortaleza
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/DuduDantasMMA/status/840799001276514304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I just got all tinglie in my lady garden after watching @ShogunRua do work like it's the pride days!!!!
— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) March 12, 2017
Shogun just went full Pride Shogun on Gian(T) to end it!!! #UFCFortaleza
— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) March 12, 2017
Shogun is so badass legend #UFCFortaleza
— Chito Vera (@chitoveraUFC) March 12, 2017
I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire fight. I knew someone was gettin slept. #UFCFN106 #UFCFortaleza #legend
— Zak Cummings (@ZakCummings) March 12, 2017
Damn! What an impressive win by @ShogunRua ! He looked much sharper today than he has in a long time. Happy! #UFCFortaleza
— Nicolas “Lokomotivo” Dalby (@DalbyMMA) March 12, 2017
Rua cashes
— Mike "Biggie" Rhodes (@TeamRocBiggie) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/ErickSilvaMMA/status/840797928277045248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
With this impressive stoppage defeat of Villante, Shogun is suddenly on a three-fight win-streak – an undeniably rare thing in the ever dangerous light heavyweight division. This knockout win, which is his first KO since he defeated James Te Huna in December of 2013, follows decision defeats of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Corey Anderson. He’s now 25-10 overall.
Villante, meanwhile, returns to the loss column after a December TKO of Saparbek Safarov.
What do you think of Shogun’s big win in Fortaleza? Who do you want to see him fight next?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/12/2017.