Jordan Wright made a statement at theUFC Vegas 7 show Saturday.- With a spinning heel kick and an abundance of knee strikes, Wright forced a first round doctor's stoppage over Ike Villanueva.
- One of the knee strikes left a hole in Villanueva's brow, which bled heavily over his opponent's face, body, and the Octagon canvas.
- The referee Jason Herzog paused the action so a UFC doctor could inspect the cut. The doctor decided it would only get worse. Wright had won.
- Watch the action unfold below.
- WARNING: This post features graphic imagery of Wright's injury. Do not scroll down if you do not want to see it.
An unbeaten American left a hole in his opponent's face which was so bloody, the UFC doctor stopped the fight after 91 seconds.
It all went down at the behind-closed-doors UFC Vegas 7 show at the UFC's Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jordan Wright fought Ike Villanueva on the preliminary card of the event, and finished the fight inside the first round thanks a spinning heel kick and knee strikes from the clinch. One of the knees severely damaged Villanueva's face, with blood pouring from a wound on his brow, down his face, onto his body, and even the canvas.
The injury looked so bad the referee Jason Herzog called a time-out so that a UFC doctor could inspect Villanueva.
It was not long before the doctor declared the bout over, saying that Villanueva was in no fit state to continue because his facial injury would only get worse.
WARNING: Below is graphic imagery of Vilanueva's injury. Do not scroll down if you do not want to see it.
Watch Wright's win right here:
—UFC (@ufc) August 22, 2020
And here's a photo of his injury:
Herzog waved the bout off after 91 seconds:
Wright won his debut fight in the UFC:
It was Wright's 11th win in his pro career.
Wright did suffer a knockout loss on Dana White's Contender Series, but the 2018 bout was turned into a No Contest after his opponent, Anthony Hernandez, tested positive for marijuana.
Though Wright is technically undefeated, some of his competition has been sub-par as two opponents took losing records into the cage, with a further four fighters having no pro experience at all.
Against Villanueva on Saturday, though, Wright scored the biggest win of his career, on the greatest stage, in highlight-reel fashion — and he did so on just five days' notice in a weight class he is not used to.
"To be able to come in a weight class above, weighing underweight and putting on a performance like that, it feels pretty awesome," Wright said post-fight.
"I knew he wanted to close the distance and he was pretty aggressive, so I knew I could catch him if I time that spinning kick just right and from there I knew the finish would be inevitable.
"I'm a finisher. All my wins were by finish and I just know how to put people out," he said.
"It's been really cool, we had a nice hotel, it's been nice staying here with my team. We've all just been kind of hitting it off, training, talking.
"Now I'm going to go back to the gym, see my mom, give her my love, my friends and family and hang out with my coaches."
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