UFC Vegas 108 sees the return of a submission specialist who achieved great things before ever putting on a pair of gloves.
The Octagon returns to the Apex in Las Vegas this Saturday night where Tatsuro Taira faces Hyun Sung Park in a replacement main event.
One of the roster’s true specialists will also step back inside the Octagon on August 2 as he looks to bounce back from a loss last time out.
Rodolfo Vieira is an elite grappler, having been a former ADCC and IBJJF world champion during his career in jiu-jitsu.
While Vieira has suffered several setbacks in the UFC, he also holds a statement win over a former champion who helped to define the lightweight division.
Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesRodolfo Vieira submitted Benson Henderson years before he made his MMA debut
Rodolfo Vieira would make a transition from being an elite grappler to an MMA fighter when he made his debut in 2017, going 5-0 before signing to the UFC in 2019.
Before then, along his way to winning the most prestigious prizes in grappling, the Brazilian faced some big names.
In 2015, he competed in the Nogi Absolute division of the ADCC World Championship where after winning four consecutive matches, he faced off with Benson Henderson.
Henderson is a former UFC lightweight champion who was previously tied for having the most consecutive defenses in the history of the division until Islam Makhachev separated himself from the rest of the pack by earning four in a row.
The 41-year-old has some stellar accomplishments but for Joe Rogan, one of the defining traits of Henderson’s career is that he was the first fighter that the long-time UFC commentator can remember significantly utilizing calf kicks before they became one of the most important aspects of the sport.
Unfortunately for the former champion, without his striking to help him out, he was submitted by Vieira via armbar as the Brazilian continued to advance.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesRodolfo Vieira and Tresean Gore’s UFC grappling stats compared ahead of UFC Vegas 108
Unsurprisingly given his grappling experience, all but one of Rodolfo Vieira’s wins in MMA have come by way of submission.
At UFC Vegas 108, he will face the 31-year-old Tresean Gore who has gone 2-3 since signing to the UFC via ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
A potentially concerning aspect for Vieira in this matchup is that his takedown accuracy rate isn’t all that high, while his opponent has a strong defensive record.
UFC grappling statsRodolfo VieiraTresean GoreAverage takedowns landed per 15 minutes3.522.62Takedown accuracy26%75%Takedown defense (% of opponent’s takedown attempts that didn’t land)100%83%Average submissions attempted per 15 minutes1.21.3
The other stat worth pointing out is that while both men have a similar submission attempts average per 15 minutes, Vieira’s record in the UFC shows that when he locks up an opponent, he tends to put them away.