A STUNNING PERFORMANCE saw Brian Ortega make history and do what no other fighter has ever done — stop former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 last night.
Edgar had lost before in his career but never by knock-out and Ortega delivered a devastating first-round blow during the co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Ortega, who maintained his unbeaten record with the landmark win, landed a perfect uppercut after shocking Edgar with an elbow towards the end of the first round, and the 36-year-old had no answer.
Not only does Ortega move him into contention for Max Holloway’s featherweight title, but the win landed him $50,000 for Performance of the Night.
After the fight, Conor McGregor, who had offered to step in to fight Edgar when Holloway pulled out through injury, sent the American a message on Twitter:
Frankie's career deserved for that to be against me tonight.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 4, 2018
Respect Frankie.
Love and respect always!
A true fighters fighter ❤
In the night’s other main event, Cris Cyborg survived an early onslaught from Yana Kunitskaya to retain her women’s featherweight title with a dominant first-round TKO victory.
UFC 222 results:
Main card
- Cris Cyborg def. Yana Kunitskaya via first-round TKO
- Brian Ortega def. Frankie Edgar via first-round KO
- Sean O’Malley def. Andre Soukhamthath via unanimous decision
- Andrei Arlovski def. Stefan Struve via unanimous decision
- Ketlen Vieira def. Cat Zingano via split decision
Undercard
- Mackenzie Dern def. Ashley Yoder via split decision
- Alexander Hernandez def. Beneil Dariush via first-round KO
- John Dodson def. Pedro Munhoz via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- CB Dolloway def. Hector Lombard via disqualification (late hits)
- Zak Ottow def. Mike Pyle via first-round TKO
- Cody Stamann def. Bryan Caraway via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
- Jordan Johnson def. Adam Milstead via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
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