The first ever UFC FightPass Invitational took place on December 16th and the promotion put together a great event featuring a Quintet-style team-tournament and several superfights that starred elite grapplers and veteran MMA fighters alike. The four teams competing in the tournament were representing smaller MMA promotions LFA, CFFC, Fury FC, and FAC, although they could still count several Bellator and UFC veterans among their number like Rafael Lovato Jr, Ricardo Evangelista, and Davi Ramos. Although there was a fantastic £25,000 prize on the line, the tournament went a similar route as the most recent editions of Quintet as almost all of the individual matches ended in draw.
In each of the semi-final rounds, only one match ended in submission with Rafael Lovato Jr locking up a rear-naked choke against Mike Wilcox and Ricardo Evangelista securing a reverse armbar against James Krause. The final round then saw all four matches ending in a draw, but the decision was given to Lovato Jr and the rest of Team LFA and they walked away with the prize money. Rising star and future MMA fighter Danielle Kelly also featured in the superfight portion of the card, although she was on the receiving end of an upset as Alexa Yanes managed to earn the split decision victory in an incredibly close match.
UFC FightPass Invitational 1 Full Results
Team Tournament Semi-Finals
Team LFA defeats Team CFFC – 1 – 0
Davi Ramos (LFA) fights Anton Berzin (CFFC) to a Draw
Rafael Lovato Jr. (LFA) fights Jonathan Piersma (CFFC) to a Draw
Rafael Lovato Jr. (LFA) defeats Mike Wilcox (CFFC) via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Gregory Rodrigues (LFA) fights Joe Solecki (CFFC) to a Draw
Team Fury FC defeats Team FAC – 1 – 0
Ricardo Evangelista (Fury FC) defeats James Krause (FAC) via Submission – Reverse Armbar
Daniel Pineda (Fury FC) fights Grant Dawson (FAC) to a Draw
Travis Tooke (Fury FC) fights Mikey England (FAC) to a Draw
Kody Steele (Fury FC) fights Jason High (FAC) to a Draw
Superfights
Benson Henderson defeats Ben Saunders via unanimous decision
Alexa Yanes defeats Danielle Kelly via split decision
Shane Shapiro defeats Bobby Green via Submission – Kneebar
Brenadan Allen defeats Gabriel Checco via unanimous decision
Christian Guzman defeats Jerry Shapiro via unanimous decision
Team Tournament Final
Team LFA defeats Team Fury FC via Unanimous Decision
Gregory Rodrigues (LFA) fights Kody Steele (Fury FC) to a Draw
Rafael Lovato Jr. (LFA) fights Travis Tooke (Fury FC) to a Draw
Davi Ramos (LFA) fights Daniel Pineda (Fury FC) to a Draw
Ary Farias (LFA) fights Ricardo Evangelista (Fury FC) to a Draw
The full UFC FightPass Invitational event replay will be available to watch on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.
