Brazilian fighter Michel Pereira caused quite a stir at UFC Fight Night 158 - by backflipping and showboating his way to defeat against Tristan Connelly.His first-round display in Vancouver will go down in history as one of the most spectacularly pointless series of acts ever performed in a UFC Octagon.Pereira had every reason to feel confident going into his fight with Connelly, who only surpassed the lightweight class to take on the Brazilian five days ago!With that in mind, it was clear from moment one that ‘Demolidor’ felt capable of defeating his undersized opponent in acrobatic style.He went after the Canadian with a flurry of aerial attacks, which included Superman punches, backflips, runs off the cage and everything in between.
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But it was surprisingly easy for Connelly to weather this early storm, given that tragically few of these moves succeeded in landing any contact!
Pereira did have Connelly on the canvas at one point, but in a moment of madness, the Brazilian opted to backflip on top of him rather than attempt to finish him off.
The 25-year-old’s first-round shenanigans appeared to use up all of the energy he desperately needed to counter Connelly’s resurgence as the second round began.
With a roaring home crowd behind him, the Canadian took the fight to Pereira – putting an end to the Brazilian’s acrobatics and dominating the rest of the fight.
Pereira found himself pinned to the canvas during the final few seconds, and he was punished with a succession of heavy ground strikes for his earlier arrogance.
After the referee called time, the judges unanimously scored the fight in favour of Connelly – who pocketed a cool $100,000 for a composed UFC debut victory.
Time will tell whether this knock to Pereira’s ego will eliminate acrobatics from his future fights.
From an entertainment standpoint, we really hope not!