Manoel Sousa had to survive a nightmare first round before turning the tables on Richie Miranda at UFC Vegas 120.

The former LFA lightweight champion was making his UFC debut after defending his title twice, while Sousa entered looking to build on his promotional debut victory.

Sousa came out hunting for his trademark power shots, but Miranda quickly found an opening. After Sousa overextended on a punch, Miranda secured a takedown, took his back, and controlled much of the opening round with ground-and-pound. Sousa defended submission attempts well, but it was a difficult start for the Brazilian.

Everything changed in the second. “Manumito” began attacking Miranda’s lead leg with heavy kicks, forcing the debutant to repeatedly shoot for takedowns. Sousa stuffed the attempts and continued pressuring him against the cage before dropping “El Machete” with a combination of leg kicks and a body shot.

Miranda showed tremendous toughness to survive, but Sousa continued pouring on pressure and landed several heavy hooks before the bell.

“Manumito” carried that momentum into the third, repeatedly attacking the legs while keeping Miranda on his back foot. Miranda landed some clean shots of his own and made a late takedown attempt, but Sousa defended and stayed upright through the final bell.

When the scorecards were read, all three judges awarded Sousa the fight 29-28, giving him the unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 120. The win moved Sousa to 2-0 in the UFC and extended his winning streak to four. “El Machete”, meanwhile, suffered defeat in his promotional debut.