IGOROT UFC campaigner Mark Eddiva's six winning streak was put to a halt during the weekend after suffering a second round stoppage by Brazilian Kevin Souza in the Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season 3.
The Brazilian knock out artist, who thumped 13 of his 18 opponents with his lethal punching prowess jumped into the gun early in the first round trading punches and kicks with the former Philippine Wushu team member.
Eddiva and Souza was in the thick of exchanging blows when referee Herb Dean stopped the fight with 4:52 of the second round declaring the hometown favorite Brazilian the winner by way of technical knockout.
“I thought I was okay exchanging blows with Souza but the referee was thinking otherwise so I cannot do anything about it,” Eddiva told Sun*Star Baguio via social networking site Facebook.
With his victory over Eddiva, Souza extends his winning streak to nine matches and improved his record to 15-3 while handling Eddiva his first defeat in his eight-year MMA run and drops his win-loss card to 6-1.
Despite the loss, Souza shared the “Fight of the Night” honors with Eddiva, with both of them bringing home $50,000-bonus in their pockets.
Prior to Eddiva’s meeting against Souza, two other Filipino MMA fighters yielded to their respective opponents.
Honorio Banario bowed down to Mongolian kickboxer Jadamba Narantungalag via unanimous decision in the undercard of One FC: Honor & Glory on Friday, while Mark Muñoz lost to Gegard Mousasi by a first-round submission in the UFC Fight Night 41 headliner in Germany.
"Although I'm happy with the 'Fight of the Night' consolation, I could have been happier if I also won my fight," added the softspoken Eddiva.
Even with the loss, Eddiva said he is hopeful to have another fight in the octagon this coming August.
“Hopefully I will again be included in the UFC when they return to Macau,” continued Eddiva.
Meanwhile, Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao share the same sentiments with Eddiva thinking the fight could have gone either way if the bout went to the third round.
“Eddiva can still inflict damage and I also thought it was an early stoppage. Have there been a third round, we might have turn things around because Souza was already limping,” Sangiao quipped.