‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ Episode 4 Results and Recap

Rodrigo Damm meets John Teixeira in season’s second featherweight bout

“The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” was back Sunday night with a broadcast streamed on TUF.tv – the season’s fourth episode. HeavyMMA has a complete episode recap here, including the third fight of the season.

Episode 4 Recap
Vitor Belfort‘s team is up 2-0 after last week’s win by Daniel Sarafian over Renee Forte in the season’s first middleweight bout. But to open this week’s episode, we move straight into Gasparzinho continuing to be the trouble-maker in the house. Most of the fighters in the house have grown tired of Gaspar’s antics, especially when it comes to playing pranks at night and disrupting his housemates’ sleep. Gaspar is ratted out in front of Coach Vitor, and Belfort says he’ll take it on him as his responsibility, as well.

We move to the TUF training center and see some workout highlights before Belfort makes his next fight announcement since he still controls the picks. Belfort says he needs to know who is peaking at just the right time. And in an odd decision, Belfort tells his team that the coaches know what the next fight will be – but they’re not telling them until the fight announcement the next day. The team, especially Rodrigo Damm, seems perturbed by this.

At the fight announcement, Belfort tells the teams the featherweight bout will be John Teixeira against Damm. Neither fighter seems at all surprised about the fight choice. And, of course, both coaches believe their guy will be the one with his hand raised. Damm has plenty of experience, and Belfort thinks that will make the difference. But Silva says “Macapa” is one of his team’s best fighters. In a confessional, Damm breaks down a little talking about his upbringing and his sister, Carina Damm, who has fought for Strikeforce, as being an inspiration. And Macapa talks about fighting for his family, as well.

Coach Wanderlei Silva swings by the TUF house to check on Macapa as he’s cutting weight for the 145-pound fight. We get loads of product placement. And both coaches talk about proper weight-cutting techniques – including Belfort, who talks about professionals who help fighters hit their marks. Belfort, of course, worked with renowned nutritionist Mike Dolce for his last fight, a submission win over Anthony Johnson, who for that fight came in 11 pounds over.

At the weigh-in, both fighters come in at 66.2 kilograms – 145 pounds on the button. So we’re good to go for the next day’s fight. The two fighters talk about being there to win, and what their plan is going to be in the fight. Macapa says he doesn’t care if he break san arm or leg, he is ready to give it everything. And we’re already ready to get into the fight, 24 minutes into the episode – which might mean we’re in for a long fight!

Rodrigo Damm (9-5) vs. John “Macapa” Teixeira (12-0)
Round 1: Brittney Palmer is there to start the round, and Mario Yamasaki tells the fighters they’re fighting for a spot in the featherweight semis. We get started, and both fighters coming out swinging. It’s Macapa who takes the center of the cage and is backing Damm down. But Damm’s firing back nicely. Macapa lands and Damm drops down to a knee. He then ties Macapa up and works for a single-leg. Eventually, he picks him up for a nice slam. Damm pushes Macapa to the cage, but before he can get off much ground and pound, Macapa is back up and they go back to trading 90 seconds in. Both fighters are landing decent shots, and then they trade leg kicks. Damm hits the turf again, then again ties Macapa up and gets the slam. He passes to half guard and looks to get out of there into side control or mount. Yamasaki warns them for more action, as Macapa is being purely defensive while Damm is trying to pass. As Damm gets out and looks to pass, Macapa gets to his feet. Damm looks to take his back standing, but Macapa is out of there and they’re back to wild punches on the feet. Good body kick from Macapa. Yamasaki warns Damm to not grab the fence. It’s a close first round, and Macapa appears to have done better in the striking department. But Damm’s takedowns were big, too. Very close round, but HeavyMMA leans toward Damm.

Round 2: Damm shoots for a pair of takedowns, but Macapa sprawls and defends. Macapa again in the center of the cage trying to keep Damm’s back to the cage. Not much action in the first minute until Macapa lands an inside leg kick, then a couple to the outside. Again Damm shoots, and again Macapa sprawls nicely. Macapa continuing to work boxing mixed with outside leg kicks. Damm is dropping his hands and walking backwards – he may be tired. Macapa definitely appears the fresher fighter halfway through the round. Macapa takes a poke to the eye and gets a few seconds to recover from it before they start back up. When they get going again, it’s Macapa again with the better striking, and again he sprawls away from a pair of Damm shots. But Damm finally is able to shoot and get some amount of success, and nearly gets to mount before Macapa escapes. On the feet, Damm lands a good knee, then gets the fight back to the ground. He has Macapa pressed against the fence looking for ground and pound in side mount. He passes to full mount with 30 seconds left, but it’s short lived. It’s another close round thanks to the last 90 seconds from Damm. But HeavyMMA gives the round to Macapa and this could be a draw. Sure enough – we’re going to sudden victory.

Round 3: Big wild punches from Macapa miss, and Damm misses another takedown attempt. Both guys work some leg kicks, but it’s pretty clear they’ve slowed down plenty at this point. Yamasaki encourages them to get going. They trade jabs. Then more outside leg kicks from Macapa. Damm drops down for a single and works for it, and he’s able to pick Macapa up over his head and slam him. Damm looks for some hammer fists, though they’re not big bombs or anything. Macapa defends as Damm gets to side control. With 90 seconds left, Damm is warned by Yamasaki to do something with the position or he’s going to stand them up. Macapa struggles, but gets out and gets to his feet and into a front headlock from Damm. Damm gets hold of an arm and looks for a kimura, but Macapa spins out of it. He tries to land some body shots as the round closes, and in the last few seconds he rolls into mount, but with not enough time left to do anything. It’s another close round, but HeavyMMA has Damm doing enough with the takedowns and control to steal the thing – though stats would probably show Macapa landed more strikes and more significant strikes. Fantastic fight, though.

Result: Rodrigo Damm def. John “Macapa” Teixeira, decision

Clearly, Silva’s team isn’t happy with the outcome. He tells Macapa he fought well and made his team proud, but also tells him the decision is a joke. Damm says it’s one of the toughest fights of his life. Back in the locker room, Team Wanderlei’s coaches are unhappy. Silva tells the cameras if they want to know who won, go check out the condition of Damm in the locker room and then look at the condition of Macapa. But it doesn’t matter. Belfort’s team is up 3-0 and retains control of the fight picks.

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