Already popular in the United States, mixed combat sports events
now appear to be gaining a foothold in Brazil.

“Fight Music Show,” an event featuring a mix of professional
fighters from various disciplines and celebrities, went down in
Brazil on Sunday. The main event featured Brazilian YouTube
personality Whindersson Nunes, who has more than 100 million
followers on social media, and former four-time world champion
Acelino “Popo” Freitas, over eight, two-minute rounds in a boxing
match. The event was broadcast by the Combate channel and featured
eight fights — four MMA, one kickboxing and three boxing – in
front of a packed arena of 2,000 people at Balneário Camboriú,
Santa Catarina State.

In attendance were notables like Charles
Oliveira, Paulo
Costa, Wanderlei
Silva, Fabricio
Werdum and Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira as well as many other Brazilian celebrities.
The interval between the three boxing main events showcased popular
Brazilian singer Wesley Safadao.

Whindersson, who trained boxing for four years under former UFC
fighter Lucas Mineiro, entered the matchup with Freitas with just
one boxing bout to his credit. The 46-year-old Freitas, who retired
in 1995 with a 41-2 record, didn’t take it easy on Nunes, knocking
the social media star down three times over the course of their
eight-round contest. Nunes nonetheless made it to the final bell.
No scores were announced and the fight was declared a draw.

After the fight, Freitas congratulated Nunes on his fighting spirit
and then invited another Brazilian legend to face him in the second
“Fight Music Show” event.

“In the U.S., there are a lot of YouTubers challenging boxing
fighters, there are a lot of people from MMA, ex-UFC fighters, and
why doesn’t it happen here?” Freitas said. “One of the best in my
weight class is named José Aldo. Come on Aldo, come to my
ring.”

Nunes, meanwhile, poked fun at his difficulty handling his
opponent’s hands during the post-fight press conference.

“When I entered in the fight, I had a tattoo with the name of my
state on my belly. Popó has made such a mess in that area that it
now reads Massachusetts,” he quipped.

Weighing 165 pounds for his matchup with Freitas, Nunes used his
microphone time after the fight to call out Logan Paul.
The American YouTube star, who recently faced Floyd
Mayweather in an exhibition bout, immediately answered in
Portuguese on his Twitter account.

Querido @Whindersson,

Eu aceito seu desafio. Continue treinando https://t.co/PTTNsiH23w

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul)
January 31, 2022

In the co-main event, Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira defeated fellow UFC veteran Leonardo
Guimaraes via decision in a bloody, back-and-forth boxing
fight. Nearly two years after his MMA retirement, the Pan American
Boxing bronze medalist had a hard time against the 39-year-old
Guimaraes. Both fighters came close to scoring knockdowns in a
brawl that brought the crowd to its feet on numerous occasions. The
match was advertised as a professional boxing bout, but ultimately
ended up being an eight-round exhibition contest. Final scorecards
weren’t announced.

In the third boxing fight of the event, 2012 Olympic silver
medalist Esquiva Falcao faced muay Thai black belt and former “Big
Brother” participant, Yuri
Fernandes. Unbeaten in 29 professional appearances and ranked
in the Top 10 in multiple boxing organizations, Falcao cruised to
victory, defeating Fernandes via TKO in the sixth round after three
knockdowns.

In the MMA portion of the show, Marco Tulio Silva finished “TUF:
Brazil” winner Glaico
Franca via second-round TKO, while Brazilian prospects
Stephanie Luciano and Pedro
Machado lost decisions to Andressa
Romero and Marcelo
Marques, respectively. The final MMA bout on the lineup saw
Mario Sousa stop Antonio
Gordillo in the opening round via TKO.

At the end of the show the promoter Mamá Brito revealed that the
pay per view numbers were above expectations and told Brazilian
outlet AG Fight that Wanderlei
Silva is already in negotiation to headline the second
edition.