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Wildfire Catch MTL Title
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Monday, November 12, 2007
by Gleidson Venga (gvenga@sherdog.com)

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov. 10 -- By a 4-1 margin, Murilo Bustamante's (Pictures)'s Wildfire conquered Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's (Pictures) Avalanche on Saturday to become the first MO Team League champions.

A preliminary bout set the stage for an entertaining evening, as Juliano Belgine scored the quickest victory of the event when he knocked out Rafael Motta (Pictures) in just 15 seconds. Belgine went straight in and connected with two blows, dropping his opponent and prompted the referee to intervene.

In the next bout, Marcelo Alfaia (Pictures) had a competitive fight against Cassiano Tytschyo (Pictures) that was filled with trading and plenty of ground action. Cassiano got the victory via decision.

The first confrontation between the Wildfire and the Avalanche stirred the audience. Luciano Azevedo (Pictures) (Wildfire) and Rafael Bastos (Pictures) (Avalanche) had a great fight with both athletes pushing the pace.

The more experienced Azevedo took the advantage with good takedowns. He dominated on the ground and was always alert to his opponent's submission attempts. In the end, the Wildfire representative took the decision and put his team ahead, 1-0.

In the second fight, up-and-comer Sergio Moraes (Pictures) (Avalanche) beat Gerson Silva (Pictures) (Wildfire) but didn't have an easy time. Throughout the fight, Moraes took his opponent to the ground, where he attacked from several positions. Gerson defended and tried to finish the fight on the feet. Moraes, however, managed to avoid his opponent's strikes and won unanimously to even the team score at 1-1.

Silmar Rodrigo (Pictures) (Wildfire) and Julio Cesar Field (Avalanche) had the most balanced fight of the night. After a competitive first round spent almost entirely on the feet, Rodrigo was better in the second round when he got a takedown and punished Field with a series of punches that almost forced the referee to stop the fight.

Once he recovered, Field again evened the dispute in the last round, defending takedown attempts and accepting the fight on the feet. However, the decision went to the judges, who declared victory for Rodrigo and gave the Wildfire a 2-1 lead.

Alexandre Ferreira (Wildfire) put on another show and didn't need much time to submit the tough boxer Fabio Maldonado (Pictures) (Avalanche). Without any intention of trading, Ferreira soon put his opponent down and immediately secured a kneebar. The 27-second victory moved the Wildfire ahead 3-1 and guaranteed them the title.

But the heavyweight fight was also important for Bustamante's team due to the fact that his athlete, Joaquim Mamute (Pictures), had been defeated by Junior Cigano (Avalanche) in July in another show. This time Mamute quickly scored a takedown and tried to work ground-and-pound. Cigano reversed the position and stayed on top, only to be caught in a fight-ending armbar.

In celebration of the title, Bustamante and his fighters opened a bottle of champagne in the ring. Satisfied with her new venture, businesswoman Monica Marchett assured that another MTL season will follow next year.
 

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