One of the top bouts at Noche UFC could have fallen through the day before fight night according to a former UFC champion.
After some slow fights on the prelims, the main card in San Antonio has certainly helped to pick up the momentum of the event.
Fans may have criticized the stoppage of Alexander Hernandez’s win over Diego Ferreira, but this continued a run of violent action.
Kelvin Gastelum’s weight miss may have led to him missing out on a bonus following his great back-and-forth battle with Dustin Stoltzfus.
The welterweight matchup received some competition for this award in the following clash, which ended in a ruthless finish.
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Belal Muhammad says that Jared Gordon fought at Noche UFC despite being hit by a car the day before
For the first two rounds of their lightweight matchup, Jared Gordon and Rafa Garcia effectively competed in a boxing match with the occasional grappling exchange thrown in.
Both men had strong moments and landed big shots on their opponent heading into the third, where it looked like one of them would need to pull ahead.
Despite a strong showing in the second from Gordon, it was Garcia who rose to the occasion, having more success on the feet before dropping the American.
After briefly threatening ‘Flash’ with a submission, the Mexican fighter made an adjustment and started to rain down elbows on his bloody foe for a very violent finish.
Gordon entered the Octagon wearing a knee brace and stood toe-to-toe for the majority of the fight without much movement, which has now been explained by his teammate.
The former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad took to social media to reveal that Gordon was hit by a car on September 12 but chose to fight regardless.
“Jared got hit by a car yesterday and popped his knee he didn’t want to pull out and fought like a warrior”
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Rafa Garcia winning via knockout wouldn’t have been a common prediction
Jared Gordon may now have five knockout losses on his record but he’s proven himself to be a fighter that is difficult to put away with strikes in recent years.
His last KO defeat before Noche UFC came to Charles Oliveira in 2019, during the run that would see ‘Do Bronx’ become the UFC lightweight champion.
On top of that, this was only Rafa Garcia’s second-ever win by knockout in his 22-fight pro career.
The vast majority of his wins inside the Octagon have come via decision but on this occasion, he appeared to be out for blood.