UFC Fight Night 77 results recap: Thomas Almeida vs Anthony Birchak fight review and analysis

HIGHLIGHTS! To watch Thomas Almeida destroy Anthony Birchak right now click here!

Super bright Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight prospects Thomas Almeida and Anthony Birchak went for the finish last night (Nov. 7, 2015) at UFC Fight Night 77 inside Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Almeida is one of the most hyped prospects in UFC today ... and that's with good reason. Having finished the vast majority of his opponents, Almeida was looking to keep that trend going last night.

On the other hand, Birchak was quite the underdog. Despite being overlooked, Birchak is a very talented fighter and was looking to remind fans of his own potential.

Birchak made his strategy clear pretty quickly, utilizing a lot of movement and kicks to keep his opponent off-balance. That didn't last for too long though, as the two men quickly began trading some heavy blows.

It took him a couple minutes, but Almeida began to find his range and land consistently. In addition, the pace that Birchak himself set had more of an effect on the Californian than Almeida, as he soon began to slow down.

Once that happened, Almeida really swarmed his opponent. He didn't let Birchak have a second to catch his breath, walking his opponent into the fence and ripping into him with heavy punches and flashy attacks. Before long, a nasty straight right hand slammed home directly into Birchak's jaw and sent him to the mat.

Hard.

Once again, Almeida has demonstrated his incredible ability to fire off rapid and dangerous strikes. Once he settles into his groove, he's one of the most dangerous offensive strikers around.

In addition, conditioning is one of Almeida's key weapons. Few fighters can hang with him in the pocket at all, but even fewer can match his output. And once the Brazilian smells blood, he relentlessly attacks his opponent with lengthy combinations in true Nick Diaz-esque fashion.

At the same time, Birchak did manage to show some of the small flaws in Almeida's game. Early on, Almeida did struggle with Birchak's angles and movement, which could be a problem against men like TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz. Additionally, Almeida's takedown defense relies more on scrambling back to his feet rather than stopping the initial shot, which could get him in trouble.

Still, these are small critiques of a young fighter. The sky is the limit for the Chute Boxe-trained scrapper.

Birchak came in with a smart enough game plan, but he ultimately couldn't do anything effective with his offense. When Almeida didn't feel threatened by the takedown or Birchak's strikes, he could open up.

From there, things quickly got ugly for the American.

Additionally, Birchak made a major flaw in his planning for this fight. If the plan was to move and utilize angles -- as he did early in the match -- then Birchak should've realized how important conditioning is to that strategy. It's an exhausting way to fight, and Birchak simply couldn't maintain the pace that he set.

After this loss, Birchak will probably end up with a bantamweight on the lower half of the roster, as his record is just 1-2 inside the Octagon. For example, a fight with Matt Hobar could make sense.

Last night, Thomas Almeida destroyed another opponent during his rise to the top. Will the talented Brazilian become a UFC champion?

For complete UFC Fight Night 77 "Henderson vs Belfort" results and play-by-play, click HERE!