Uros Medic caps record-setting UFC evening with 30-second TKO

The UFC’s first occasion in Serbia didn’t disappoint Saturday, as UFC Struggle Evening set a report for first-round finishes in a single evening.

Serbian welterweight Uros Medic (14-3) did his half in the principle occasion, defeating Daniel Rodriguez (20-6) by way of TKO in a mere 30 seconds. A report 10 of 14 bouts contested at UFC Struggle Evening ended inside the primary spherical. None have been as vital as that of Medic, who possible will break into the UFC’s welterweight rankings for the primary time since becoming a member of the promotion in 2021.

“I am gonna cook dinner the remainder of this division,” mentioned Medic, who has now gained his previous 4 consecutive bouts by knockout. “With [Serbian fans] by my facet, we’re going to carry this belt again to Serbia.”

There have been storylines on either side heading into Saturday’s most important occasion in Belgrade. Medic, 33, was born in Serbia however hadn’t visited his dwelling nation in almost a decade.

Rodriguez was launched from a Mexican jail in April, after serving an eight-month sentence for drug possession in Tijuana.

As soon as the headliner started, it was clearly Medic’s evening. He damage Rodriguez with a clear straight left, and adopted with {a partially} landed proper uppercut and knee. Rodriguez, 39, didn’t go unconscious however fell to the canvas and lined up.

It’s the quickest knockout of Medic’s UFC profession, and he has had quite a lot of them. He has now completed six of his UFC opponents inside the primary spherical, and he earned his UFC contract in 2021 with a first-round end on Contender Sequence.

“I simply wish to cry,” Medic mentioned. “I missed dwelling a lot. 9 years, it is a very long time. I left after I was a pupil. I used to be 22 years previous with a dream, and look the place it received me. Carlos Prates is means forward of me within the division however this might be a battle to recollect. And [former champion] Leon Edwards, I feel he is nonetheless in hiding, but when he decides to return out of the opening he shoved himself into, I might gladly be subsequent to knock him out.”