Any fan of MMA and/or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) could appreciate the Featherweight fight between Felipe Arantes and Godofredo Pepey. Taking place on last weekends UFC on Fuel TV: 10, the Featherweight bout featured a truly awesome display of various BJJ techniques. While the fight lasted under a round, it was a truly back and forth affair. Both fighters found themselves able to repeatedly use sweeps and reversals to change their position on the ground, showing excellent execution of techniques that are most certainly practiced frequently in BJJ, but are rarely executed in an MMA fight where fighters are allowed to strike each other. Ground strikes being allowed in MMA adds a different aspect to traditional BJJ techniques, rendering some techniques a bit more on the risky side due to the potential of being left exposed to strikes from ones opponent. Taking the aforementioned factors into account, the events (and results!) of this fight are left looking even more impressive.
Both fighters met in the center of the cage, looking to gauge the distance between each other. This usually will lead to one fighter beginning to strike…but in this particular fight, Godofredo Pepey took the first available opportunity to shoot for a single-leg takedown with Felipe Arantes backing toward the cage. Straining to complete the takedown, Godofredo Pepey managed to shift Arantes away from the cage and attempted to take his back whilst in a standing position. Felipe Arantes took the opportunity to turn and keep Godofredo Pepey’s head and shoulder low and then successfully executed a very basic hip-toss. Arantes then fended off an attempt by Pepey to take his back, ending up in the top position in Pepey’s guard.
Both fighters began to throw a few strikes from within the Guard of Godofredo Pepey, while looking for an opening to advance their position. Godofredo Pepey kept a closed guard and threw repeated elbows from the bottom position. Felipe Arantes also threw elbows and punches while deflecting Pepey’s initial attempts at the setups to various arm-locks and a triangle choke. Arantes landed a few hard strikes in quick succession, spurring quick action from Pepey, who was most definitely not enjoying the hard punches and elbows. Godofredo Pepey switched between attacking both arms; finally latching onto a Kimura hold on the right arm of Arantes, which he then used to fluidly sweep Arantes and land in the mounted position. Godofredo Pepey subsequently threw punches and looked to latch onto one of Arantes’ arms again, but Arantes expertly covered up and kept his arms free from Godofredo Pepey’s grip while regularly bucking up and trying to explode out of the bottom-mounted position.
When Godofredo Pepey postured up to throw more punches, Felipe Arantes threw both of his legs up and in front of Godofredo Pepey’s torso. Holding onto Godofredo Pepey’s shoulder/neck area and leg, Felipe Arantes then deftly swept Godofredo Pepey and ended up in the top position in Pepey’s Guard. Without a moments pause, Felipe Arantes immediately began to hit Godofredo Pepey’s head and jaw with numerous hard elbows and punches at a furious pace. After being on the receiving end of those punches and a whopping 14 unanswered elbow strikes, Godofredo Pepey began to noticeably wilt under the pressure while his head was bouncing off the canvas. Sensing the proverbial “Blood in the Water”, Felipe Arantes kept up his blistering pace, hammering Godofredo Pepey’s chin with another five unanswered punches before referee Dan Miragliotta mercifully ended the contest.
To put the aforementioned sweep and stoppage into a better perspective; I would like to point out that the reversal took place with (1:49) left on the clock, with the fight being waved off at the (1:28) mark. By my estimation, that means that Felipe Arantes swept Godofredo Pepey and convincingly stopped him in exactly 21 seconds. Felipe Arantes, whilst being punched in the face and fending off submission set-ups, got out of a terrible position by executing a very difficult sweep and then stopped his opponent in well under half a minute. Having repeatedly watched this sequence in order to ensure the accuracy of the above facts; I am thoroughly impressed by Felipe Arantes’ skill and killer instincts, as well as with the obvious quality of his training and the results that it has shown. We have all seen a great many fights ended when one fighter gets mounted and either submitted or stopped due to strikes, so this makes what Felipe Arantes achieved even more commendable. As a fan of all aspects of MMA, I truly appreciated being able to watch this fight. In the midst of a card full of finishes (mostly via Submission), this brief fight was definitely one of the most entertaining ones to watch.
To any of Felipe Arantes’ future opponents at 145 lbs., I’d think twice before taking the fight to the ground. If you don’t mind your P’s and Q’s, Felipe Arantes has the skills to make you pay for your mistakes and stop you in short order.