Prazeres outgrapples Green for 6th straight victory

In a fight that nearly never was, Michel Prazeres gave his longtime weight class quite the farewell.

The Belem native outgrappled Desmond Green for the bulk of their catchweight contest to extend his win streak to six and pick up a unanimous decision at Saturday's UFC Fight Night 125 in his hometown.

After missing the lightweight limit by five pounds at Friday's weigh-ins, Prazeres was ordered to tip the scales once more on fight night, weighing 180 pounds when he'd agreed to come in no heavier than 173. Green - who weighed 163 pounds on Saturday - agreed to take the fight nonetheless, and was paid 40 percent of Prazeres' purse (20 for missing weight, 20 if Prazeres won) as a result.

The Brazilian - who's now missed weight in three of his last four - has since been ordered to move up to 170 pounds by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission.

Prazeres landed the harder shots on the feet in the opening frame but was handily outscrambled by a seasoned wrestler in Green whenever he or his foe brought the action to the mat.

That all changed in Round 2, as Prazeres secured a takedown, moved into full mount, and angled for arm-triangle choke Green valiantly worked his way out of. The New York native remained in deep waters, however, with Prazeres regaining the advantage on the mat and capping the one-sided stanza with guillotine and north-south choke attempts.

After potshotting Green with more power strikes for the bulk of the third, Prazeres secured yet another takedown and cruised from dominant position to eradicate any doubt as to who'd earned the victory.

The 28-year-old Green has now dropped two straight decisions after edging Josh Emmett with a split verdict in his promotional debut at UFC 210.