SALVADOR, Brazil, March 8 -- The capital of Bahia hosted the second edition of Prime MMA on Saturday in the convention center of a five-star hotel.
When the fighting began, they didn't disappoint. Nunes surprised her opponent early, landing a sharp right punch on Maria, who tried to pull guard. On the ground, Maria put her jiu-jitsu to use and submitted Nunes with an armbar only 35 seconds into the fight.
"I trained a lot of BJJ for this fight, mainly submissions from the guard, which is my strong point," Maria said. "Amanda hit me with a nice punch there at the beginning, then I took her to my game and achieved a victory. I was very pleased with the outcome."
Surrounded by a great rivalry, the fight between Renato Velame and Marcio Bittencourt was another bout that garnered public attention. The athletes were evenly matched, with only a slight advantage to Velame. His hands were sharp, and he had good control on the ground. Bittencourt, for his part, surprised on several occasions with good attacks. The five-round fight for the 65-kilogram title went the distance, and Renato Velame took the victory via split decision.
One of the great revelations of the event was Bruno Carioca, who overcame the tough Edilberto Crocotá. Knowing the boxing skills of his opponent, Carioca tried to take Crocotá to the ground throughout the fight. He controlled well, using good positions and opening up an advantage in the fight. In the end, Carioca won a unanimous decision.
Lula Molusco dominated the first round against Cabo Jai, taking him to the ground and controlling from the top. In the second, Molusco again scored a takedown and then forced his opponent to quit after a series of punches from the mount.
Rodrigo Taigra fought well against Luis Buddha. After a few minutes on the floor, he connected with strong punches that dropped Buddha. On the ground, Taigra landed more strikes before finishing the fight with a rear-naked choke.
For three rounds, Fernando Almeida dominated Alan Carlo mainly on the ground, where he scored with good strikes. The judges awarded him with a unanimous decision.
After a good first round, Bruno Walidinho took down Max Anderson in the second and stopped him with punches on the ground.
In a preliminary fight, Marcio Shark gave Romenilton Gama no openings. Shark took him down, dropped some strikes and submitted him with a rear-naked choke.
In the first fight of the night, Adriano Macaco outpointed Carlos Alemão after dominating two rounds.
Future Prime MMA events were also announced for June, September and December.