Contender Series alumni Shannon Ross and Jesus Aguilar squared off at UFC 290 on Saturday afternoon in each man’s second bout with the promotion, having lost the first.
Ross was one of only a handful of Contender Series bout losers to receive a contract anyways after it was discovered that he went through his DWCS war with Vinicius Salvador while dealing with appendicitis. However, he lost his first UFC bout to Kleydson Rodrigues in under a minute and looked to bounce back. His opponent Aguilar, who lost his UFC debut to highly touted prospect and fellow UFC 290 card-mate Tatsuro Taira, won his DWCS fight by guillotine choke, a submission which has won him half of his professional victories.
The bout seemed a classic striker vs grappler match-up on paper but that is not how it played out in reality as there was no grappling to be seen. The flyweights came out trading low kicks for the first few exchanges. Then the bout was over as quick as it began as Aguilar came forward with a massive overhand right which felled Shannon Ross like a tree, knocking him stiff the instant the punch landed.
Aguilar immediately checked on Ross, showing good sportsmanship before turning to the crowd — with heavy Mexican fan representation present – to shout, “Gracias, mi gente.” Translated, “Thank you, my people.” At only seventeen seconds it instantly took the spot of second fastest knockout in UFC flyweight division history, a stellar achievement for someone who never had a knockout as a professional MMA fighter before now.
Official Result: Jesus Aguilar def. Shannon Ross by Knockout (overhand right), Round 1, 0:17
