Daniel Sarafian against Serginho Moraes on TUF Brazil / Publicity photo
This Sunday of the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, the latest episode of the “TUF Brazil” reality show closed out the week for channel Globo. On the episode, Daniel Sarafian, of Vitor Belfort’s green team, and Sergio Moraes, of Wanderlei Silva’s blues, waged war for the last berth in the middleweight final.
And it was a heated affair, for the one who lost. Sarafian controlled the action standing from the outset, landing solid strikes, while the 2011 medium heavyweight world champion of Jiu-Jitsu tried to take the action to the ground. With a well-timed shot, Sergio managed the takedown, but Sarafian remained seated and edged his way back to his feet.
With crisp striking, Sarafian got what he was looking for, setting up a front kick that left Sergio groggy. It was just a question of time, and Sarafian landed a sightly flying knee that robbed the Jiu-Jitsu fighter of his consciousness.
“I was really tense. I knew how dangerous Sergio is. He’s a great Jiu-Jitsu athlete. I’m really happy and relieved,” said Sarafian, who drew heaps of praise from UFC president Dana White.
But what did the Jiu-Jitsu specialist do wrong in the fight, if anything?
To black belt Crézio de Souza, an experienced MMA fighter, the strategy was Moraes’s downfall. “He was predictable in shooting for takedown. The way I see it he should have held back and tried getting the takedown when his opponent came in to punch. When he took that knee he was already too out of it from the other strikes,” said the Carlson Gracie student.
“I put my money on boxing combined with Jiu-Jitsu. I would have used boxing to close the distance and get hold of him. And once on the ground, I’d never let him get up; you have to do a lot of training applying pressure from the top,” said the veteran, who has even gone toe to toe with the likes of Dan Henderson, among others.
Watch the complete episode and share your two cents’ worth: Did Sergio blow it, or was there simply no hope against the well-rounded and focused Sarafian? Post your opinion in the comments field below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADQINr8ydtw
