Felipe Franco
Negao
Brazil
Drops decision in late-notice debut
Franco lost to Mario Pinto via unanimous decision (28-29, 28-29, 28-29) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in London.
ANALYSIS
Franco accepted this fight about a month ago and entered as a +650 underdog, largest on the entire card. When you take that into account, he looked pretty good in winning a round on all three scorecards and seeing the final bell. Of course, one of the reasons Franco managed to keep the fight close was because neither man did anything. It was a 15-minute snoozer in which Franco landed just 21 significant strikes and Pinto managed 2-of-14 takedown attempts. The obvious move for Franco, who weighed in at just 227 pounds for this heavyweight fight, is to drop down to light heavyweight moving forward.
Franco accepted this fight about a month ago and entered as a +650 underdog, largest on the entire card. When you take that into account, he looked pretty good in winning a round on all three scorecards and seeing the final bell. Of course, one of the reasons Franco managed to keep the fight close was because neither man did anything. It was a 15-minute snoozer in which Franco landed just 21 significant strikes and Pinto managed 2-of-14 takedown attempts. The obvious move for Franco, who weighed in at just 227 pounds for this heavyweight fight, is to drop down to light heavyweight moving forward.
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More Fantasy News
Set to make UFC debut
Franco will face Mario Pinto in a heavyweight bout at UFC London on March 21, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Franco stepped in as the replacement for Michael Parkin (undisclosed). This will be Franco's first fight at the UFC level. He owns a 3-1-0 pro record but that loss came in the Dana White's Contender Series. It remains to be seen how he'll handle the uptick in competition.
Franco stepped in as the replacement for Michael Parkin (undisclosed). This will be Franco's first fight at the UFC level. He owns a 3-1-0 pro record but that loss came in the Dana White's Contender Series. It remains to be seen how he'll handle the uptick in competition.