The pace and pressure of Laureano Staropoli netted the biggest victory of his career on Saturday when he beat veteran Thiago Alves at UFC 237.
Staropoli (9-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and his seemingly endless gas tank allowed him to pour on the offense against Alves (23-14 MMA, 15-11 UFC), who had his moments but was unable to stop the up-and-comer from getting the unanimous-decision nod.
The welterweight bout was part of the UFC 237 main card from Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro and streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Staropoli came out of the gate strong to begin the fight, doing his best to walk Alves down and land his strikes. Alves, a former UFC welterweight title challenger, avoided taking any serious damage and used his veteran savvy to try and get a read on Staropoli, who had no problem throwing spinning and flying techniques.
A similar look spilled over into the second frame, with Staropoli refusing to back down despite taking Alves’ famous leg kicks. He landed some clean strikes that generated swelling around Alves’ eyes, but the Brazilian would not be deterred.
Alves’ best moment of the fight came in the third when, after losing most of the round, he landed a series of shots on Staropoli that caused him to back peddle. Staropoli avoided any serious chances of getting finished, though, and survived the late storm to reach the scorecards, where he was awarded the victory 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
With the win, the Argentinian has come out on top in his past seven fights.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 237 results include:
- Laureano Staropoli def. Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Irene Aldana def. Bethe Correia via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:24
- Ryan Spann def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:07
- Thiago Moises def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Warlley Alves def. Sergio Moraes via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 4:13
- Clay Guida def. B.J. Penn via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Luana Carolina def. Priscila Cachoeira via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
- Raoni Barcelos def. Carlos Huachin via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
- Viviane Araujo def. Talita Bernardo via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 0:48
For more on UFC 237, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
