UFC Brasil got the hype rolling the night before Zuffa Boxing 12, posting faceoffs from the top two fights in London. “O bicho vai pegar! 🔥” it wrote on X. That’s a promise things were about to get rough. The post asked followers who would come out on top and pointed Brazilian viewers to the Saturday 14h start on Paramount+.
The post covered two matchups. Chris Billam-Smith met Chev Clarke in the main event, an all-English cruiserweight fight. Denzel Bentley faced American Shane Mosley Jr. underneath it.
The headliner carried more history than most Saturday main events. The two met as amateurs, and Clarke beat Billam-Smith with the British amateur championship on the line 10 years ago, according to UFC.com. Billam-Smith framed this fight as a chance to make that right for his younger self. Clarke told UFC.com he always knew the rematch would come around eventually.
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Clarke tried to take the heat out of it anyway. Speaking with MiddleEasy, he separated the old amateur rivalry from this fight. He stressed staying composed and brought up the GB selection process as part of how their history played out. Fair enough. I’ve lost money on plenty of fighters who swore a fight wasn’t personal, and plenty more who swore it was. The tape doesn’t care either way.
The card went down Nov. 7 at the Copper Box Arena, Zuffa Boxing’s return to that building. Yahoo Sports and DraftKings Network both ran the betting lines ahead of fight night, and UFC.com and FightBook MMA have since posted the full results and official scorecards. If you want to argue with the judges, check those cards before you yell at anyone.
The Bentley vs. Mosley Jr. pairing also made the cut for UFC Brasil’s promo. It’s a London fighter against a famous American boxing surname, which is exactly the kind of co-main a promotion wants Brazilian fans clicking on at two in the afternoon.
Ten years is a long time to carry an amateur loss around. I grumble about fighters coming off long layoffs at short odds, but a long grudge is different. Billam-Smith had a decade to think about Clarke, and Saturday finally gave that rivalry a professional result.
