Geoff Neal sure hits hard.
The Fortis MMA product became the first man to stop the always-tough Mike Perry with strikes Saturday night at UFC 245. Neal (13-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) scored a first-round TKO over Perry (13-6 MMA, 6-6 UFC). The finish came at the 1:30 mark.
Neal, who remains unbeaten in the UFC, rocked Perry with a left head kick and followed up with a flurry of punches that forced the referee to wave off the bout.
The 29-year-old fighter has finished four of his five fights in the UFC. In his three-year run in the Las Vegas based promotion, Neal has proven to be one of the most dangerous strikers at 170-pounds.
Meanwhile, Perry, who not so long was considered a promising prospect in the division, is now on a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 in his last four UFC outings. Perry, 28, was coming off a split-decision loss to Vicente Luque where he suffered a badly broken nose.
The welterweight bout closed out the preliminary card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN2 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+ and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 245 results include:
- Geoff Neal vs. Mike Perry via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:30
- Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:51
- Omari Akhmedov def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Matt Brown def. Ben Saunders via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:55
- Chase Hooper def. Daniel Teymur via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:34
- Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:17
