Lucio Linhares, the Brazilian fighting out of Finland, went the distance with Kyle Baker in a fun fight that saw most of the action on the feet. With a very close first round, the BJJ black belt turned it on with the second with powerful strikes, rocking the American. The “Spartan” finished the third by looking for looping and damaging punches in the middleweight bout.
The former UFC fighter went for the finish in the 3rd, but Kyle was there to take the punishment, even getting a late takedown. “He was the toughest by far” says Linhares in the post fight interview about the smaller fighter that took all the damage, as he stood with his hands raised with 29 – 28 on the score cards. Linhares improves his record to 17 wins and 7 losses, and gets back on the winning track after suffering a loss at Fight Festival 31 back in October.
Assan Njie, fighting out of Gothenburg Sweden, the long-time middleweight fighter made the drop to welterweight to take on Steven Ray.
“The Black Attack” controlled the first round with a take down moving into full mount, damaging the fighter out of Scotland. The Swede went for a guillotine to finish the round, but couldn’t finish before the bell rang.
After taking full mount and softening his opponent with punches, Njie locks in the submission in the second, going back to his signature guillotine. Impressive in his bout, the Gothenburg fighter finished at 2:20 in the second without taking any damage. Njie has won five straigh, and now sports a 12 win and 2 loss record.
The event took place at Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
