On Saturday, two promising bantamweight prospects were set to collide on the UFC 269 preliminary card. That bout, second in on the final PPV event of 2021, saw Randy Costa up against Tony Kelley.
Costa was competing for the first time since a thrilling effort against Adrian Yanez back in July. After dominating the opening round, Costa was caught and finished in the second; Saturday, he’d been looking to get back in the win column Kelley, who was seeking his second straight victory inside the octagon.
Both fighters took the center of the octagon after a touch of gloves. Kelley pressured Costa right away and hit a couple of jabs. Kelley kept rushing Costa, not really landing. Kelley missed with a roundhouse kick, and Costa missed with an uppercut. Costa put Kelley against the fence in a clinch, landing some knees. Kelley landed a hook and put Costa against the fence. A couple of reversals followed, with the pair switching back and forth against the fence. The fighters broke and Kelley rushed Costa again with a couple of punches. Just over a minute left, and Kelley put him against the fence again. Both fighters exchanged knees and body punches in the clinch. The round ended with Kelley controlling Costa against the fence.
Round two started with a low kick and a high kick from Kelley. Costa was the one who clinched with Kelley this time, Kelley then reversed him against the fence. The fighters broke and move back to center, where Kelley landed another low kick followed by a high kick. Costa landed a high kick and left hand that got Kelley’s attention. Kelley clinched him and landed a knee to Costa’s body which hurt Costa. Costa dropped for a takedown, and Kelley defended. Kelley got on top of Costa and started dropping elbows, with Costa covering up. Those elbows kept on coming, causing the referee to jump in and stop the fight.
Going OFF!!! @TonyKelleyMMA just came in to get it done 😤 #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/IzMfelFGVQ
— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2021
Costa has now dropped two straight, while Tony Kelley is now on a two-fight win streak.
Official Result: Tony Kelley def. Randy Costa by TKO (elbows) Round 2, 4:15
