Marlon Vera scored a rare front kick knockout of Frankie Edgar at UFC 268.
After nearly a full fight of competitive action, Vera (20-7-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) surprised Edgar (24-10-1 MMA, 18-10-1 UFC) when he altered his attack by throwing the left front kick up the middle for the knockout at the 3:50 mark of Round 3.
The bantamweight bout was part of the UFC 268 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
What a finale to the CHITO SHOW!!!! 🎬
[ @ChitoVeraUFC | #UFC268 | Tune in LIVE on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/xRVlqJBhNX ] pic.twitter.com/ylxNeWEigV
— UFC (@ufc) November 7, 2021
Edgar started the fight in very classic fashion. He used a lot of footwork and head movement to skirt near the outside of Vera’s range. He shot for a takedown slightly less than two minutes in and evaded a Vera guillotine choke attempt. The fight stayed on the mat for the remainder of the round, with Edgar controlling and landing ground-and-pound.
The start of the second round was more of the same. Edgar traded strikes with Vera until he found an opening to change levels for a takedown roughly 70 seconds in. He showed heavy top control, but Vera showed some desperation to get up from bottom. Vera denied a subsequent takedown attempt then shortly thereafter connected with a clean punch that backed Edgar up and got his attention. Edgar showed his trademark durability, but Vera stayed on him and landed a few more clean shots to sway the momentum in his favor going into the final round.
The third round featured more back-and-forth striking exchanges, but it was clear Vera was rapidly gaining in confidence. As the minutes were winding down, he unleashed the kick that dropped Edgar and followed with one hammerfist that forced referee Todd Anderson to halt the fight.
With the win, Vera set a new record for most stoppage victories in UFC bantamweight history with nines. Edgar, meanwhile, fell to 1-2 since he dropped to 135 pounds in August 2020.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 268 results include:
- Marlon Vera def. Frankie Edgar via knockout (front kick) – Round 3, 3:50
- Justin Gaethje def. Michael Chandler via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailidis via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 2, 0:18
- Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:25
- Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:27
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:42
- Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
- Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 2, 2:23
- Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ode Osbourne def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
