Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Vinc Pichel has just finished up his second fight in the UFC in the last twelve months, snapping a three-year-long period of inactivity caused by injuries and personal issues.
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Pichel was looking onward and upward when he walked out on Sunday to face Joaquim Silva at UFC on FOX 27 in Charlotte. With a solid first-round knockout win over Damien Brown at UFC Auckland in June 2017, Pichel was out to show that the hiatus from mixed martial arts was nothing but a pit stop.
Pichel began the bout by controlling the centre of the cage, before letting loose with a leg kick that was soon followed by a series of body shots.
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The attacks to the body would be the early keys to victory for Pichel, who eventually had to come in closer to nullify Silva’s own powerful lead kicks.
Silva would rally in the last few minutes of the first round, landing a high kick on Pichel as he circled away to his right.
Photo: UFC
Pichel would then attempt a high crotch takedown after Silva slipped, eventually trying for a single-leg takedown in the final moments of the round.
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
Round two would see Pichel moving inside once more, using a mixture of ranged strikes and close quarters elbows to get in on his opponent.
Photo: UFC
Silva would then attempt to guillotine his opponent as he shot in for a takedown.
A brief exchange would see both men’s faces marked up after Pichel let fly with a left hand that seemingly rattled Silva, who fired back with a jab-cross to stave off his opponent’s forward march.
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Silva would begin to act as the aggressor, throwing a fancy spinning kick at Pichel that was just barely blocked along the fence.
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It seemed as though both men were aiming to time each other’s strikes in an attempt to counter, but it was Pichel who would land more often and more cleanly. The round continued with a series of short exchanges before ending with a thunderous leg kick for Pichel, who looked like he had the second round squared away.
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The third round was make or break for Silva, who came out baying for blood, landing body kicks along the fence.
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His enthusiasm would cost him, with Pichel landing a takedown off of a kick that Silva had thrown.The takedown would not last long though.
Despite being along the fence and keeping his opponent’s legs controlled, Pichel was unable to keep his man on the ground.
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
Pichel would then eat a few heavy punches on the break, and his corner would begin to call for him to use his jab.
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
Visibly fatigued, Pichel would trade kicks and punches with Silva before shooting in from the outside to try and score another takedown.
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
Silva would scramble urgently back to his feet before eating a huge knee to the head on the break.
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
Photo: UFC
The two men would exchange once more before the buzzer sounded, calling an end to what was a hotly contested bout.
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Having put on a performance that saw the 35-year-old dig deep into his bag of tricks, Pichel would defeat Silva by unanimous decision, 29-28.
Photo: UFC