UFC 147 results recap: Rony Mariano Bezerra vs Godofredo Pepey fight review and analysis

The first ever finals of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil were decided last night (June 23, 2012) as featherweights Rony Mariano Bezerra took on Godofredo Pepey battled for the six figure contract at UFC 147 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Rony "Jason," as he was called on the show was extremely emotional throughout his entrance to the cage and it showed in his performance. Bezerra came out far too patient in one of the strangest fights of the season.

Pepey was at least aggressive in the stand-up portion, but his constant guard-pulling turned the crowd against him. It was a complete mess of a bout, but Bezerra would pull out a victory, even if he didn't exactly impress the bosses.

So what helped put "Jason" over the top? And what happens next for both featherweights?

Follow me after the jump for our Rony Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo Pepey UFC 147 post-fight review and analysis:

Early on, Bezerra seemed far too focused on counterstriking while Pepey tried to mix in straight punches. Once "Jason" began to get the better of the stand-up, Pepey instead worked to get the fight to the ground.

Pepey was far too comfortable on his back. Granted, he submitted two men from his back during this past season, but once he couldn't score a takedown, he began pulling guard over and over and over again.

Pulling guard can work if you're very quick with sweeps or submission attempts, but everything Pepey threw up at Bezerra seemed ineffective or took far too long to set up. This really got the Brazilian fans riled up as Bezerra's passivity in the stand-up portion was making the fight uninteresting and frustrating no matter where it went.

Perhaps the only real significant blows came from Pepey via illegal strikes as he repeatedly threw elbows to the back of Bezerra's head while on his back and then in the third round, he connected solidly with a pair of particularly nasty low blows.

Despite not being that aggressive, Bezerra was still being more effective in the stand-up and he was on top on the ground due to Pepey's guard pulling. This allowed him to pull off a unanimous decision victory.

For Godofredo Pepey, this was just a brutal performance. He was not effective with his stand-up unless he was throwing illegal blows, his ground game was ugly as he repeatedly had to pull guard to even attempt anything and then he topped it all off by being disrespectful immediately following the bout once the final horn had blared. He didn't do himself any favors last night with such a lousy fight but I'm sure the UFC will keep him around.

I expect him to fight someone along the lines of fellow lanky featherweights Pablo Garza or George Roop or perhaps someone lower down the food chain like Vagner Rocha.

For Rony Mariano Bezerra, while he won, he didn't exactly light the world on fire. He wasn't aggressive when on top of Pepey and he was surprisingly hesitant to strike with Pepey on the feet despite having a serious power advantage. Yes, he's the featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter but unless he pulls the trigger in his future fights, he's not going to be making much of an impact at 145 pounds.

I'd expect to see him square off against someone like Matt Grice, Javier Vasquez or perhaps Marcus Brimage. They'll need to take their time with him and develop his confidence.

So what did you think, Maniacs?

Was this bout even close to what you were expecting? Do either of these featherweights have a shot at making an impact in the UFC 145 pound division?

Sound off!

For complete UFC 147 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.