UFC strawweight Fatima Kline picked a great way to celebrate her 25th birthday with a highlight-reel KO.
UFC Nashville featured a heavyweight headliner between knockout king Derrick Lewis and charging contender Tallison Teixeira. But hours before the main event, the knockouts came early on the prelims in the first fight of the night.
Strawweights Fatima Kline and Melissa Martinez kicked things off on the UFC Nashville prelims on Saturday. Kline, regarded as one of the top female prospects in MMA, looked to continue her momentum after a nasty finish over Victoria Dudakova for her first UFC victory in January.
Fatima Kline celebrates 25th birthday with head kick KO to kick off UFC Nashville
Once the fight started, it was one-way traffic for Kline against Martinez. She doubled up Martinez in significant strikes (32-19 in Round 1), and frustrated her opponent with her range and crafty combinations.
Kline’s lead left hook and jab stunned Martinez in the early minutes. While Martinez had a better Round 2, stuffing multiple Kline takedown attempts, it was Kline who landed the more damaging blows to take a significant lead on the scorecards.
But Kline wasn’t satisfied with coasting to a decision win on her 25th birthday. Midway through Round 3, Kline threw a right hand followed up by a left head kick that sent Martinez collapsing to the canvas.
Watch Kline’s wild knockout below.
Kline’s knockout was her second TKO/KO finish of her UFC tenure, after finishing Dudakova with elbows earlier this year. She’s bounced back nicely since a UFC debut loss to Jasmine Jasudavicius last year.
Melissa Martinez, the sister of fellow UFC fighter David Martinez, has now lost two out of three UFC appearances.
Tom Aspinall is keeping a close eye on the UFC Nashville headliner
As Lewis and Teixeira go to battle on Saturday night, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is plotting his return to the Octagon for later this year. As of this writing, an opponent hasn’t been announced for Aspinall’s first undisputed title defense, meaning Lewis or Teixeira could skyrocket up the heavyweight title picture.
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson returns in the UFC Nashville co-main event against Gabriel Bonfim. The card also features the retirement fight for Lauren Murphy in a women’s flyweight matchup.
Follow along here at Bloody Elbow for all the latest from UFC Nashville.