It may be time for Matheus Mattos to shed his minor-league MMA skin.
Mattos spent much of the first round scrambling out of takedowns and navigating the clinch, as his counterpart successfully closed the distance. Silva advanced to the back and set his hooks late in the round but could not hold his position. Mattos upped the pace in round two, where he caught his fellow Brazilian moving in, floored him with a counter overhand right and finished it with heavy ground-and-pound.
One of Brazil’s top prospects, Mattos has delivered all nine of his wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
Griffin Brings ‘Pain’ in 43-Second Rout
West Coast Fighting Championship welterweight champion Max Griffin needed less than a minute to subdue middleweight titleholder David Mitchell with punches in their non-title super fight in the WFC 16 main event on Jan. 23 at the McClellan Conference Center in Sacramento, California. Mitchell (19-6), who washed out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship after five appearances inside the Octagon, succumbed to blows 43 seconds into round one.
Griffin (12-2) used Mitchell’s aggression against him. He dropped him with a right hand inside the first 15 seconds, allowed him to return to his feet and then sent him crashing back to the canvas with a three-punch volley punctuated by another right hand. Clearly compromised, Mitchell moved back to an upright position, where he was met with an overhand right that necessitated the stoppage.
The 30-year-old Griffin has won eight of his last nine bouts, a split decision loss to Chidi Njokuani his only misstep.
Canadian Teenager Laramie Executes 25-Second Knockout
T.J. Laramie has begun his ascent.
The 18-year-old Canadian featherweight upped his mark to 3-0, as he took out Florida-based Yvon Agenord in the first round of their clash at Hard Knocks Fighting Championship 48 on Jan. 29 at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Laramie brought it to a close just 25 seconds into round one.
Laramie sent a straight right crashing into Agenord (2-2) behind a range-finding jab and followed up with punches for the finish. The Maximum Training Centre rep has put away his first three opponents in a little more than four minutes combined.
In Brief: Hioki Choke Sinks Yokoyama
Former Shooto and Sengoku champion Hatsu Hioki (28-9-2) made a successful promotional debut at Pancrase 275 on Jan. 31, as he submitted Krazy Bee’s Kyosuke Yokoyama (5-4) with a rear-naked choke 95 seconds into the first round of their pairing at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Masakatsu Ueda (21-4-2) recorded his third consecutive victory, as he choked previously unbeaten Mexican prospect Jose Alday (7-1) unconscious 2:02 into the third round ... Cage Fury Fighting Championships alum Jamie Colleen (3-0) retained the King of the Cage women’s strawweight championship, as she disposed of Callie Cutler (4-3) with punches 1:24 into the fifth round of their showdown at KOTC “Thunder-N-Lightning” on Jan. 8 at the Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton, Minnesota ... Strikeforce and UFC veteran Bobby Voelker (28-12) took a three-round unanimous decision from Raymond Gray (3-3) at Shamrock Fighting Championships “Assault” on Jan. 15 at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Missouri. Voelker has rattled off four straight wins since being released by the UFC in 2014 ... Yutaka Saito claimed the vacant Shooto featherweight crown with his five-round unanimous verdict over Yoshifumi Nakamura (18-8) on Jan. 11 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Saito (11-1-2) has won five in a row ... Anthony Smith (24-11) put away Josh Neer (36-16-1) with punches 3:27 into the first round to capture the Victory Fighting Championship middleweight title at VFC 47 on Jan. 29 at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska ... Jung Wang Cha (12-6-3) dethroned Riki Fukuda (23-8) for the Road Fighting Championship middleweight crown, as he knocked out the UFC vet 2:36 into the second round of their Road Fighting Championship 28 confrontation on Jan. 31 at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul.