In his F2W debut, Erberth Santos dethroned Gutemberg Pereira for the heavyweight title at Fight 2 Win 111.

With two black belt titles on the line and underdogs overcoming the odds F2W 111 was absolutely stacked. In the main event Erberth Santos challenged Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) for the heavyweight title. 

While Pereira was in control for most of the match, he failed to successfully attack or sweep, which cost him the match. The refs gave Erberth Santos the unanimous decision to become Fight 2 Win’s new heavyweight champion.

The match began with a quick guard pull from Pereira. Santos seized the opportunity as an attempt to jump past the legs of the champion, but Pereira was poised, tying up the challenger and stifling all the eruptive maneuvers he is known for. Frustrated and slowed down, Santos tried to create openings, eventually escaping off of one of Pereira’s sweep attempts. 

After disparate performances in recent tournaments fans and haters alike did not know what to expect from the divergent black belt, but in a recent Instagram post Santos alludes to the fact that all he has been through– mistakes, wins, and losses– are all a part of his mission to “be a champion and be a better person”. 

WATCH: Erberth Santos vs Gutemberg Pereira Fight 2 Win 111

Perret Claims Bantamweight Title 

After being vacated by Mackenzie Dern the women’s bantamweight title was on the line for Catherine Perret (Checkmat) and Chicago local, Kristin Mikkelson (Brazil 021). These competitors have fought before in no-gi, exchanging wins. 

From their previous battles Perret is well-versed in the dangerous closed guard of Mikkelson, and arrived to the stage with a game plan she executed flawlessly: avoid the closed guard at all costs. 

The match was submission-focused, as the athletes battled for each other’s legs, ankles, and feet. With about 3 minutes left Perret latched onto the ankle of Mikkelson, applying the most convincing submission attempt of the match. After a 10-minute battle the refs awarded Catherine Perret the unanimous decision victory and the bantamweight title. 

WATCH: Catherine Perret vs Kristin Mikkelson Fight 2 Win 111

Diniz vs Batista Delivers Controversial Decision

Another highly anticipated match was the showdown between the medium heavyweights Gustavo Batista (Atos) and Matheus Diniz (Marcelo Garcia), ranked number 2 and number 9 at medium-heavyweight respectively. Batista has looked unstoppable recently, and Diniz has only been gaining momentum. 

The strategies of both men was heavily influenced by the sub-only rule set. Batista started the match strong, pulling guard, and controlling the pace of the match and posture of his opponent. After multiple close, sweep attempts, Diniz seemed to use the attempts as fuel for his passes, looking like his namesake “King Kong”: heavy. Batista engaged his lasso, slowing, but not stopping, the pass attempts of Diniz. 

Batista was able to set up a straight arm lock, but Diniz was shaking his head, not threatened by the submission at all. Diniz landed a heavy slam, and fell back right into an ankle lock with just twenty seconds left on the clock. Batista was able to get one more straight armlock attempt in as the bell rang. The match could not have been much closer, but ultimately referees gave the unanimous decision to Matheus Diniz.

While some fans were confused over the call because Batista had more submission attempts than Diniz Fight 2 Win rules specify that slams are weighed in when a match comes to a ref’s decision. 

"I watched the fight again and I honestly did not understand the decision of the 'referees', but thank you all for the support," Batista wrote on Instagram. 

Diniz will be back on the Fight 2 Win stage next week against Gabriel Arges.

WATCH: Matheus Diniz vs Gustavo Batista Fight 2 Win 111

Other notable matches:

Devhonte Jonson defeated Matthew Leighton by unanimous decision – watch video

John Gutta earns black belt Submission of the Night with a brutal Mir Lock victory over Goran Reljjic – watch video

Perez Figueroa defeats Jimmy Santiago via Toe Hold and takes the black belt Fight of the Night – watch video