Brazilian YouTube Personality Battles to Draw Against Boxing Champ, Issues Challenge to Logan Paul

Already popular in the United States, mixed combat sports events now appear to be gaining a foothold in Brazil.

“Fight Music Show,” an event featuring a mix of professional fighters from various disciplines and celebrities, went down in Brazil on Sunday. The main event featured Brazilian YouTube personality Whindersson Nunes, who has more than 100 million followers on social media, and former four-time world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas, over eight, two-minute rounds in a boxing match. The event was broadcast by the Combate channel and featured eight fights -- four MMA, one kickboxing and three boxing – in front of a packed arena of 2,000 people at Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina State.

In attendance were notables like Charles Oliveira, Paulo Costa, Wanderlei Silva, Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as well as many other Brazilian celebrities. The interval between the three boxing main events showcased popular Brazilian singer Wesley Safadao.

Whindersson, who trained boxing for four years under former UFC fighter Lucas Mineiro, entered the matchup with Freitas with just one boxing bout to his credit. The 46-year-old Freitas, who retired in 1995 with a 41-2 record, didn’t take it easy on Nunes, knocking the social media star down three times over the course of their eight-round contest. Nunes nonetheless made it to the final bell. No scores were announced and the fight was declared a draw.

After the fight, Freitas congratulated Nunes on his fighting spirit and then invited another Brazilian legend to face him in the second “Fight Music Show” event.

“In the U.S., there are a lot of YouTubers challenging boxing fighters, there are a lot of people from MMA, ex-UFC fighters, and why doesn't it happen here?” Freitas said. “One of the best in my weight class is named José Aldo. Come on Aldo, come to my ring.”

Nunes, meanwhile, poked fun at his difficulty handling his opponent’s hands during the post-fight press conference.

“When I entered in the fight, I had a tattoo with the name of my state on my belly. Popó has made such a mess in that area that it now reads Massachusetts,” he quipped.

Weighing 165 pounds for his matchup with Freitas, Nunes used his microphone time after the fight to call out Logan Paul. The American YouTube star, who recently faced Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition bout, immediately answered in Portuguese on his Twitter account.

Querido @Whindersson,

Eu aceito seu desafio. Continue treinando https://t.co/PTTNsiH23w

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 31, 2022

In the co-main event, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeated fellow UFC veteran Leonardo Guimaraes via decision in a bloody, back-and-forth boxing fight. Nearly two years after his MMA retirement, the Pan American Boxing bronze medalist had a hard time against the 39-year-old Guimaraes. Both fighters came close to scoring knockdowns in a brawl that brought the crowd to its feet on numerous occasions. The match was advertised as a professional boxing bout, but ultimately ended up being an eight-round exhibition contest. Final scorecards weren’t announced.

In the third boxing fight of the event, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Esquiva Falcao faced muay Thai black belt and former “Big Brother” participant, Yuri Fernandes. Unbeaten in 29 professional appearances and ranked in the Top 10 in multiple boxing organizations, Falcao cruised to victory, defeating Fernandes via TKO in the sixth round after three knockdowns.

In the MMA portion of the show, Marco Tulio Silva finished “TUF: Brazil” winner Glaico Franca via second-round TKO, while Brazilian prospects Stephanie Luciano and Pedro Machado lost decisions to Andressa Romero and Marcelo Marques, respectively. The final MMA bout on the lineup saw Mario Sousa stop Antonio Gordillo in the opening round via TKO.

At the end of the show the promoter Mamá Brito revealed that the pay per view numbers were above expectations and told Brazilian outlet AG Fight that Wanderlei Silva is already in negotiation to headline the second edition.