It stands to reason Kaan Ofli didn’t make any new fans in Brazil.
The night had been going pretty damn well for the fans at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilians won the night’s first six fights. Michael Aswell spoiled that streak to end the prelims, and to open the main card, Ofli made it two straight.
But he had to go through a whole lot of trouble to get it. Ofli (13-4-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) fought through some brutal-looking leg submission attempts from Ricardo Ramos (17-8 MMA, 8-7 UFC) early in their fight. But once he was out, Ofli turned the tables.
After he took Ramos’ back, he forced him to tap with a standing rear-naked choke. The fans in Rio started to boo the result immediately. It no doubt stung a little worse considering Ramos appeared to be seconds away from making Ofli tap in the early going.
The 32-year-old Ofli, a Turkish featherweight based in Australia, snapped a two-fight skid that came after he graduated to the UFC from Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” His win was the night’s first upset.
Ramos could be on the chopping block. He’s dropped four of his past five – three by first-round choke. And before his current rut of bad results, he had a fight canceled when he came in eight pounds over the featherweight limit.
Check out Ofli’s comeback finish below:
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 261 results:
- Kaan Ofli def. Ricardo Ramos via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02
- Michael Aswell def. Lucas Almeida via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:42
- Jafel Filho def. Clayton Carpenter via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 4:42
- Vitor Petrino def. Thomas Petersen via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:26
- Bia Mesquita def. Irina Alekseeva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:14
- Lucas Rocha def. Stewart Nicoll via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Julia Polastri def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 3, 2:56
- Luan Lacerda def. Saimon Oliveira via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 3:55
