Two exciting middleweights with their backs against the wall met at UFC Louisville as Zach Reese slept Julian Marquez in the opening seconds of the bout.
Despite a respectable 3-3 UFC record, Julian ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis” Marquez was finished in his last two fights and had not won since 2021 coming into this Saturday’s fight. On the other side, Reese lost his first-and-only UFC fight by TKO due to a slam, an extraordinarily rare occurrence. The fight was close if you paid attention to the odds, but it certainly did not play out that way.
Zach Reese threw three strikes on the feet the entire fight. He connected with a body kick, then shifted into a left hook followed by a right uppercut. The uppercut caught Julian Marquez under the chin and floored him. A few ground strikes on a stunned Marquez got the referee to step in at exactly the twenty second mark.
The crowd absolutely loved it, and ate out of his hand during the lost-fight speech. Reese seemed to love every moment, and why not? It is not often that you get your first UFC win with a highlight reel knockout.
Official Result: Zach Reese def. Julian Marquez by TKO (uppercut to ground strikes) Round 1, 0:20
