Ike Villanueva picked up his first UFC win Wednesday – and it was one for the highlight reel.
With his back potentially up against the wall, Villanueva (16-11 MMA, 1-2 UFC) landed a massive overhand right early in Round 2 that floored and disoriented opponent Vinicius Moreira.
As Moreira (9-5 MMA, 0-4 UFC) hit the canvas and the referee analyzed the situation, Villanueva blessed himself and pointed to the sky. In case there was any doubt the fight was over, referee Jason Herzog waved off the bout 39 seconds into the second round.
Villanueva, 37, punched his ticket into the win column after back-to-back losses to kick off his UFC tenure. The former Fury FC champion was signed to the UFC in early 2020 and was finished twice by TKO – once by Chase Sherman and once by Jordan Wright.
Moreira’s woes continued. In all four of his UFC outings, Moreira has been finished with strikes. UFC on ESPN 20 was the first time Moreira made it to the second round.
Check out the violent knockout in the video below:
Spun him around with one punch 😳@hurricane_ufc with the highlight reel knockout at #UFCFightIsland8 pic.twitter.com/ru2fBd8dzg
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 20, 2021
UFC on ESPN 20 took place Wednesday at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The card aired on ESPN.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 20 results include:
- Ike Villanueva def. Vinicius Moreira via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:39
- Viviane Araujo def. Roxanne Modafferi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Matt Schnell def. Tyson Nam via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Lerone Murphy def. Douglas Silva de Andrade via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Omari Akhmedov def. Tom Breese via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:41
- Ricky Simon def. Gaetano Pirrello via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:00
- Su Mudaerji def. Zarrukh Adashev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Dalcha Lungiambula def. Markus Perez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Francisco Figueiredo def. Jerome Rivera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mike Davis def. Mason Jones via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Umar Nurmagomedov def. Sergey Morozov via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:39
- Manon Fiorot def. Victoria Leonardo via TKO (head kick, punches) – Round 2, 4:08
