An exciting bout kicked off the UFC Vegas 39 prelims, with Steve Garcia TKO’ing Charlie Ontiveros in round two.
UFC Vegas 39 might have been low on star power — you’ll probably hear that a lot this weekend — but it made up for it with some intriguing match-ups, at least on paper.
One of those came early on the Fight Night card in Las Vegas on Saturday, with lightweights Steve Garcia and Charlie Ontiveros facing off. Garcia, who had whiffed on the Contender Series, missing weight, was coming off his first win in the UFC after joining as a short-notice replacement. Ontiveros, meanwhile, was returning from a scary neck injury in a fight last year against Kevin Holland.
Ontiveros opened the fight quickly, knocking Garcia down within the first ten seconds after clipping Garcia with an axe kick. Garcia popped right back up but was soon dropped again after a quick right hook by Ontiveros. Ontiveros tried to blitz Garcia for the finish but Garcia recovered and got a big takedown to help clear his head. Garcia then dominated Ontiveros on the ground for the rest of the round, eventually making his way to north-south and busting Ontiveros open with a brutal elbow. The cut was on the temple and began spewing blood as Ontiveros was going back to the corner.
GROUND AND POUND FOR THE FINISH! 💥👊
🇺🇸@MeanMachine505 dominates in RD 2! #UFCVegas39 pic.twitter.com/sUb5pehfJh
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
Ontiveros came out firing once again to start round two, dropping Garcia with a short shot before Garcia once again got the takedown. Garcia quickly moved to mount and began to rain down elbows to Ontiveros who by that point was looking like a horror movie victim. Garcia kept up the pressure with the shot and soon got the TKO finish. A great fight to kick off the UFC Vegas 39 prelims.
Official Result: Steve Garcia def. Charlie Ontiveros via TKO, Round 2, 1:51
