24. Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
When it happened – UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy (March 27, 2010)
-Seeing that it was originally the grappling aspect of MMA that got me into watching the sport, I have a huge appreciation for two grapplers who, instead of neutralizing one another’s submission game with sub-par striking, decide to engage each other in a Jiu-Jitsu match. That’s where Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes falls in on this list.
Last year, I called Lucio Linhares vs. Rousimar Palhares one of the greatest grappling matches I have ever seen in MMA. I don’t necessarily think that Pellegrino’s UFC 111 encounter with Camoes dethrones Linhares/Palhares, but it certainly featured some of the most intense and entertaining grappling exchanges that I’ve seen all year.
First off, Fabricio Camoes looks to seal the deal and score an early upset with a standing rear naked choke. With Camoes’ body-triangle fully locked around Pellegrino waist, and his forearm finally managing to dig under Pellegrino’s chin, anyone at that point would have considered a done deal. There just didn’t seem anyway out for Batman Pellegrino…until he decided to drop forward onto the canvas, dumping Fabricio Camoes on his head in the process.
Then, to finally cement the encounter as a personal favorite of mine, Kurt Pellegrino and Fabricio Camoes ended up switching roles in the second round with Kurt Pellegrino sinking in his own rear naked choke. Fortunately for Pellegrino, Camoes didn’t receive an opportunity to return the head dump and was forced to finally give in and tap out to the submission. Oh, and did I mention that there was a Gogoplata attempt? Seriously, if you’re a fan of the finer aspects of mixed martial arts, give this fight a look-up.
The dump:
