Aleandro Caetano starred one of the most unusual title wins in MMA history Sunday, when he became the Shooto Brasil super bantamweight champion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Caetano took on Diego Ribeiro in the co-main event of Shooto Brasil 106 and was dominating the action early on, pounding Ribeiro with heavy shots on the ground until the Nova Uniao fighter landed an illegal upkick. As Caetano complained with the referee, Ribeiro landed another illegal strike that put him out cold.
Illegal upkick KO at Shooto Brasil 106. Foul or flop?
Fiuri Riberio (the kicker) vs. Aleandro Caetano pic.twitter.com/CdI18ceert
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 14, 2020
“I was winning the fight, I was about to knock the guy out — he went out twice and the referee didn’t stop it,” Caetano told MMA Fighting. “I was hitting him with both knees on the ground and he landed the first upkick. I complained with the referee and he landed another illegal upkick and was disqualified.”
Caetano says he “knew I was fighting” when he woke back up, and doesn’t remember anything that happened between the first illegal shot and the post-fight chaos.
A teammate of Jessica Andrade at PRVT, Caetano was declared the winner — and new 140-pound champion — via DQ, improving to 21-6-1 as a professional fighter. He dismisses the claims that he allegedly milked the blow to end the contest.
“I was winning the fight, why would I fake it?,” he said. “Even if I didn’t knock him out in the first, I was winning the round and he would lose a point with the illegal upkick, so it would be a 10-8 — and he was gassed already. Why would I stop this fight?
“Tell those people to look at my record, I was never knocked out before. I was knocked down once in my life, but never out.”
In the main event of Shooto Brasil 106, Thiago Silva had to dig deep to win the lightweight championship, tapping out Fabricio Martins with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round.