Gustavo Lopez opened up the UFC Vegas 13 card with a flawless performance, dominating and finishing a returning Anthony Birchak inside the first round.
Anthony Birchak made his return to the Octagon Saturday at UFC Vegas 13. Having gone 2-2 in his original run with the company from 2014 to 2017, Birchak then tried his hand in Japan’s RIZIN FF, before picking up wins in Combate Americas and LFA over the past two years. On Saturday, Birchak had his homecoming against Gustavo Lopez, replacing Felipe Colares.
Lopez came to the UFC as the Combate Americas bantamweight champion, but lost in his promotional debut against the very tough Merab Dvalishvili.
Birchak started off fast, landing a hard leg kick that caused Lopez to limp momentarily. However, Lopez quickly turned the tables, landing a huge overhand right that backed Birchak up to the fence, and then another right hand that dropped Birchak. Lopez swarmed Birchak with a flurry of blows but it wasn’t enough to get him out of there, and Birchak got back to his feet and recovered. Lopez shot for a quick takedown, and Birchak quickly gave up his back. Lopez rained down a series of blows before sinking in the rear-naked-choke, it was in deep and Birchak was forced to tap. An extremely dominant performance by Gustavo Lopez.
Wasting no time 😳
These two are setting the pace for #UFCVegas13 already. pic.twitter.com/YuccbAcHPZ
— UFC (@ufc) November 8, 2020
An absolutely flawless win for Gustavo Lopez, who gets a huge victory get him back on the winning track after a tough UFC debut. On the other side, a tough loss for the returning Anthony Birchak who took the fight on extremely short notice.
Sinks in the choke! 👏
🙌 @Gustavo11Lopez was on a mission to a first round finish!
The #UFCVegas13 prelims continue on #ESPNPlus. pic.twitter.com/UiEKd982LX
— UFC (@ufc) November 8, 2020
Gustavo Lopez def. Anthony Birchak by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 1 (2:43)
