Eddiva loses to Souza in The Ultimate Fighter Brazil finale

Edimilson “Kevin” Souza handed Mark Eddiva the first setback in his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career by stopping the Filipino fighter on the undercard of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 season finale on Sunday morning (PHI time) at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Souza, a notorious Brazilian knockout artist who thumped 13 of his 18 rivals with his lethal punching prowess, battered Eddiva late in the second round to earn the stoppage after being clobbered by the 5-foot-8 Team Lakay standout with foot-strikes, which appeared to slow him down in the first round.

The 29-year-old Souza leaned on his deadly fists as he looked to land big punches with his length-advantage, including a heavy right-hand that made its mark on Eddiva’s face.

Eddiva found a way to neutralize his adversary’s stand-up outburst as he scored a brief takedown and positioned himself on top seeking to pass the guard, but Souza quickly zipped a triangle choke attempt that forced his Pinoy foe to posture out of danger.

Midway point of the period, Souza went back to his feet to hurl a two-punch rally and a follow-up left hook that forced Eddiva to fire away with more kicks.

Despite blood oozing from a nasty cut, Souza put together a barrage of wild shots that had Eddiva wobbling all over the Octagon.

The featherweight confrontation returned to its technical form in the second round, but Souza slowly turned up the pace of his offense and realized that Eddiva was backing off from the exchange.

With a minute left in the round, Souza started to pick Eddiva apart with overhand rights and straight lefts, but the second homegrown Filipino UFC competitor managed to walk through the punches and stayed on his legs.

Eddiva has no other choice but to trade rowdily with Souza and toss low kicks and body kicks, but referee Herb Dean surprisingly stepped in to halt the action at 4:52 of the second canto and declared the Brazilian favorite as the winner by way of technical knockout.

With his victory over Eddiva, Souza extends his winning streak to nine matches and improved his record to 15-3.

On the other hand, Eddiva has tasted his first defeat in his eight-year MMA run and drops his win-loss card to 6-1.

Souza shared the “Fight of the Night” honors with Eddiva, and both men brought home $50,000-bonus in their pockets.

Prior to Eddiva’s meeting against Souza, two other Filipino MMA combatants likewise yielded to their respective opponents.

Honorio Banario bowed down to Mongolian kickboxer Jadamba Narantungalag via unanimous decision in the undercard of ONE FC: Honor & Glory on Friday, while Mark Muñoz lost to Gegard Mousasi by a first-round submission in the UFC Fight Night 41 headliner this morning. – Rappler.com