Marcos Rogerio de Lima needed one opportunity to finish Ben Rothwell in the UFC Fight Night 197 co-main event.
In essentially the first exchange, de Lima (19-7-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) put hands on Rothwell (39-14 MMA, 9-8 UFC) and staggered him backward toward the cage. He followed up with a big-time flurry, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop it just 32 seconds in.
The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 197 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.
Check out the replay of de Lima’s triumph below (via Twitter):
Wasting NO time, @Pezao011 gets it done in under 1 minute ⏱
[ #UFCVegas42 | Main Card Live NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/a3W6Nb5C9S
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2021
Not only does de Lima register the most notable win of his career, but he gets consecutive victories for the first time since 2013. He’d alternated wins and losses over his past 11 fights but finally snapped that trend.
Rothwell, meanwhile, suffers his first knockout loss since October 2009.
“I knew it was a tough fight, all respect to Ben,” de Lima said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. ”
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 197 results include:
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Ben Rothwell via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:32
- Felicia Spencer def. Leah Letson via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:25
- Khaos Williams def. Miguel Baeza via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:02
- Song Yadong def. Julio Arce via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:35
- Joel Alvarez def. Thiago Moises via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:01
- Andrea Lee def. Cynthia Calvillo via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
- Sean Woodson def. Collin Anglin via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:30
- Cortney Casey def. Liana Jojua via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rafael Alves def. Marc Diakiese via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:48
- Da Un Jung def. Kennedy Nzechukwu via knockout (elbows) – Round 1, 3:04
