19-year-old prospect Alice Pereira might need a little more seasoning before making her next appearance in the octagon after a lackluster outing led to a split decision loss to Montse Rendon at Noche UFC on Saturday.
The highly touted Brazilian just never got much going across three rounds as she mainly circled away from her opponent and tried not to give up takedowns. Pereira’s lack of activity really doomed her with Rendon constantly coming after her, although even she was struggling to produce
much offense.
Still, Rendon stayed much busier and ultimately had her best performance in the second round where she nearly landed a submission. In the end, two judges gave Rendon the fight with 29-28 scores while one official did give Pereira the nod with a 29-28 score of her own.
Pereira seemed most comfortable operating at distance and using her reach to keep Rendon away from her. In return, Rendon kept on the gas pedal moving forward and trying to find an opening to chip away at Pereira with her striking.
The crowd was growing restless with a lack of activity from the bantamweights with Pereira resigned to throw single punches while constantly circling away and Rendon attempting to cut her off against the cage.
Pereira was connecting with the more effective shots but the output was few and far between as she continued moving away with Rendon in pursuit. A trip from Pereira as she was backing up led to Rendon going on the attack and she actually clipped the Brazilian with a few solid punches.
That sequence finally forced Pereira to get a little more active but she was winging wild punches and Rendon stayed technical during a fiery exchange. That led to Pereira going for an ill-fated takedown, which Rendon easily reversed before nearly locking up a rear-naked choke but she ran out of time before potentially locking in the submission.
With five minutes remaining, Rendon snapped off another effective punch and Pereira shot for a desperation takedown as it appeared her conditioning was running short. Rendon stayed on the attack, looking for punches and attempting to set up for more takedowns, although she was unable to bring Pereira back to the canvas.
Just before time expired, Rendon snapped off a big combination that saw Pereira’s head whip around as her mouthpiece went flying. That final exchange secured the win for Rendon as she simply outworked Pereira during the three-round fight.
It’s a good win for Rendon and an obvious wakeup call for Pereira, who just didn’t seem ready for the moment in her UFC debut.
