MEXICO CITY – Steven Peterson beat Martin Bravo with a second-round knockout Saturday to open up the main card at UFC on ESPN+ 17 in Mexico City.
Take a look inside the fight with Peterson, whose spinning backfist in the middle frame will almost certainly be on year-end highlight reels in 2019.
Result: Steven Peterson def. Martin Bravo via knockout (spinning backfist) – Round 2, 1:31
Updated records: Peterson (18-9 MMA, 2-3 UFC), Bravo (11-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC)
Key stat: Bravo outstruck Peterson 93-53 and landed two takedowns, but Peterson landed the one big strike that counted the most.
Peterson on the fight’s key moment
“I saw him go for the spin, and I spun faster and harder. It was just a timing thing. I saw him go for the spin, and I don’t know if we were both thinking it in the moment. But I saw his head turn and him turn, so I spun faster and harder and mine landed.”
Peterson on the extra shot after Bravo was out
“Honestly, I felt kind of guilty. I felt kind of bad going for that finishing blow. But Herb wasn’t there yet, and I didn’t know if he was going to bounce back up and hop in on a single-leg (takedown). So I just had to take those shots. Afterward, when he was still on the ground, I felt remorse. But afterward, when you look back on the moment, I’ve knocked guys down before, and they’ve hopped up on a single-leg. In the moment, you have to go for it. If the ref’s not stopping the fight, you’ve got to continue to fight till the ref stops it.”
Peterson on what he wants next
“Honestly, I always want to fight someone who will try to take me out, just like ‘El Toro’ did. He came at me, he brought the fight to me, and that’s what I want. I felt like I won my last fight against Alex Caceres. I was chasing him the whole time. I outstruck him, I took him down. What more can you do if you do go to the judges’ scorecards? It’s kind of hard to finish a guy who is running from you. So I want to fight a top 15 guy next, someone who is going to try to hurt me, so I could take him out.”
To hear more from Peterson, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
