Gilbert Burns vs. Michel Prazeres

Round 1
Prazeres catches a kick from Burns and pushes the off-balance “Durinho” to the ground in the center of the cage, landing a straight right hand in the process. Burns tries to lure Prazeres to the ground, can’t, and instead stands up to circle the outside. Prazeres gives chase and walks into a cracking hook from Burns, who can’t capitalize on the knockdown before “Tractor” powers back to his feet. Prazeres gets a kick on the cup but quickly recovers from the inadvertant foul, and the lightweights are back to work with three minutes remaining. Burns connects with a left hook, jumps into range and lands a knee to the body, then circles away before Prazeres can retaliate. Prazeres wraps up Burns at the waist and hits a quick trip takedown, but he can’t keep Burns on the floor.

Sherdog Scores
Tristen Critchfield scores the round 10-9 Burns
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Burns
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Burns

Round 2
Burns’ outstretched hand sticks Prazeres with a finger in the left eye during the first exchange of the round. Prazeres doesn’t seem too badly affected by the foul, and the fight resumes within a minute. They fight for another 20 or 30 seconds before Burns once more kicks Prazeres on the cup. Burns apologizes for the foul when the fight gets back underway. “Durinho” slips to the ground and invites Prazeres to come down, but Prazeres wants nothing to do with the BJJ black belt’s guard. Burns dives for a takedown, gets stuffed and stands up right away to knee Prazeres in the face. The pace slows further in the middle of the round, with neither lightweight being particularly active in the striking department. Prazeres stuffs a late takedown attempt and steps forward to bounce an overhand right off Burns’ face. Burns counters the next punch with a nice hook, but he looks to be fading as he draws a deep breath and lets his hands drop to his waist.

Sherdog Scores
Tristen Critchfield scores the round 10-9 Prazeres
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Prazeres
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Prazeres

Round 3
Prazeres backs up Burns to the fence and hurts him with a hard kick to the body. Prazeres stuffs him to the ground and tries to pound him out, but Burns slows the attack by controlling Prazeres’ wrists. Prazeres complains to referee Osiris Maia that Burns is grabbing inside his gloves. Seconds later, Prazeres yanks his hands free and slugs Burns’ face with a hard shot. Prazeres allows Burns to stand with about 3:30 remaining in the fight. Burns circles to his left around the edge of the cage, hands low but still jogging in place in front of his opponent. Burns whiffs on a spinning attack and gets popped with a pair of punches to the body. Down to the final two minutes now, and Prazeres is just stalking Burns around the cage. Burns occasionally bursts toward his opponent with a knee or punch, but Prazeres continues to land the more accurate stikes. Burns comes alive in the final 30 seconds, winging hard combinations at Prazeres, whose hands are now dropping low, too. Prazeres gets the final word, however, as he grabs a kick and runs Burns to the ground in the center of the cage.

Sherdog Scores
Tristen Critchfield scores the round 10-9 Prazeres (29-28 Prazeres)
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Prazeres (29-28 Prazeres)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Prazeres (29-28 Prazeres)

The Official Result
Michel Prazeres def. Gilbert Burns via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) R3 5:00