Toronto’s Theodorou suffers first loss as a pro by Santos

Elias Theodorou (left) and Thiago Santos (right) (Internet photo)

LAS VEGAS – Hard-nosed Brazilian Thiago Santos finished strongly to hand Toronto middleweight Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou his first loss, winning a unanimous decision in the opener to Thursday’s UFC Fight Night main card.

Theodorou’s face was a mask of blood after the bout, which was scored 29-28, 29-27, 29-27 for the Brazilian. It looked like someone had taken a can opener to his forehead, leaving an ugly triangular gash above his right eye.

The 27-year-old Canadian went out on his shield, trying to avoid the Brazilian’s heavy striking by grinding him into the fence as the fight wore on. It worked until Santos carved him open in the third.

“It was a tough fight,” Theodorou, who did not speak to reporters, said in a quote provided by the UFC. “I knew it was close going into the third round but when that cut opened up and the blood started flowing down it made it very difficult to maintain my depth perception.”

Theodorou came into the fight unbeaten in 11 bouts, with two UFC victories since winning “The Ultimate Fighter Nations” reality TV show.

“He was undefeated for a reason… I saw him slowing way down and I tried to throw everything at him to get the finish,” Santos said.

(Thug) Rose Namajunas (5-2-0), ranked third among female strawweights, battered seventh-ranked (12-Gauge) Paige VanZant (6-2-0) en route to a fifth-round submission win in Thursday’s main event the first UFC female top-of-the-card bout in which a title was not at stake.

The 23-year-old Namajunas dominated the fight, cutting the 21-year-old VanZant in the first round. Then Namajunas tried repeatedly to turn VanZant into a human pretzel on the ground.

A game VanZant, leaking blood, refused to take a step back but had no answers and was almost choked out at the end of the third. VanZant twice escaped armbars in the fourth.

It ended via rear naked choke at 2:25 of the fifth.

In the co-main event, Michael Chiesa (13-3-0) choked out veteran lightweight Jim Miller (25-7) at 2:57 of the second round.

The show was the first of three UFC cards in as many nights in Las Vegas, culminating in UFC 194 Saturday when Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor face off to decide who is the undisputed featherweight champion.

Colourful and charismatic, Theodorou’s resume reads actor, model, stuntman, dancer, TV pitchman and Harlequin Romance cover boy as well as fighter.

The 31-year-old Santos was a Brazilian army paratrooper before fighting. His nickname is Marreta, Portuguese for sledgehammer.

Santos (12-3-0) needed just 29 seconds in June to knock former Quebec minor-league hockey enforcer Steve Bosse senseless with a kick to the head. In January, Santos stopped Andy Enz in under two minutes, hurting him with a body kick before unleashing a barrage of punches.

Still Theodorou was better than a 2-1 favourite going into the bout at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Both men attacked with kicks in the first round before Theodorou tried unsuccessfully to grapple with Santos at the fence late in the round. The Canadian was busier in the round.

Santos hurt Theodorou at the fence early in the second but Theodorou managed to take him down, as least briefly. Theodorou, his long hair flying despite cornrows and a man-bun, then resorted to his trademark suffocating game at the fence.

The referee eventually moved them back to the centre of the cage and Santos went to work with strikes. But Theodorou pushed him back to the fence, only to be taken down. Theodorou got back up and took the Brazilian down as the round ended.

Theodorou took the fight again to the fence in the third, clamped to Santos like a limpet. Again they were sent to the centre of the cage, only to have Theodorou take it back to the fence. Santos could not find separation to fire his shots.

But at least one big one landed. The fight was halted briefly to have the doctor examine Theodorou’s cut, but the action was allowed to continue.

With two minutes remaining, Santos battered the Canadian. The referee asked if Theodorou wanted to continue. He said yes and paid for it as Santos kept punishing him.

Santos raised his arms when the final bell went. A tired, bloody Theodorou didn’t have the energy or the conviction to match him.

As the judges’ scorecards were read out, Theodorou clearly expected the worst.

(Super) Sage Northcutt, a 19-year-old petroleum engineering student at Texas A & M, submitted lightweight Cody Pfister via guillotine choke early in the second round for his second straight UFC win.