Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 207 Results: Antonio Carlos Junior Defeats Marvin Vettori

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:45 p.m. ET

Fansided, Tony Fagnano/FanSided via Cage Pages

After three hard-fought rounds of grappling, Antonio Carlos Junior took home a victory at UFC 207 over Marvin Vettori.

Marvin Vettori is only the third fighter from Italy to step into the octagon. He’s leading a new surge of young Italian talent along with Alessio Di Chirico since Alessio Sakara blazed the path to the UFC. Submitting Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Alberto Mina in his debut, he made it clear he was not scared of the ground game coming into this fight.

Since winning The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, Antonio Carlos Junior has gone 2-2 with a no contest for an accidental eye poke. A multiple-time champion in jiu-jitsu and black belt, Junior has fought at heavyweight, light heavyweight, and now middleweight. He came into the fight having the edge in experience.

Almost immediately, Carlos Junior caught Vettori with an accidental eye poke, which is something he’s not unfamiliar with. About a minute later it happened again and Vettori came back with his own. After a third warning from the referee, action resumed. Junior shot for a takedown following a kick but Vettori stuffed it and they clinched back up against the fence. From there, Junior was able to land a takedown after threatening to take the back.

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Vettori took Junior’s back up against the fence, the two separated and exchanged punches in the center of the Octagon. Vettori whiffs on a flying knee but then landed some straights to drop Junior. Vettori did heavy ground and pound damage landing multiple elbows and punches from top position even going for a choke at one point as well, but Junior gave the thumbs up to the ref.

Carlos Junior controlled the third round from start to finish. Applying heavy pressure to a fading Vettori and getting two big takedowns. The fight ended with Carlos Junior attempting a guillotine. Antonio Carlos Junior earns the unanimous 29-28 decision from the judges winning his second straight fight.