Bobby Green claimed one of the biggest wins of his UFC career with a stunning 33-second knockout of No. 10-ranked lightweight contender Grant Dawson at UFC Vegas 80.
Green was paired with Dawson as a test for the up-and-coming contender, but it was Green who emerged with the statement victory as he stunned, then finished, Dawson inside the opening minute of the lightweight main event bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
After a short feeling-out period that saw Dawson attempt to land a few strikes from range, Green walked Dawson onto a perfectly-timed straight left that dropped his man to the canvas. A blast of some quick follow-up ground strikes were enough to complete the knockout as referee Keith Peterson waved off the fight after just 33 seconds.
The victory gave Green back-to-back victories in the Octagon for the first time since February 2022, and showed that he's very much a factor in the UFC's lightweight division. The performance may even see unranked Green earn a ranked spot when the updated official UFC rankings are released on Monday.
Green opted not to use his post-fight interview to call for a specific opponent, but instead chose to call on the UFC to put him on the final pay-per-view card of the year in December.
After a performance like that, he'd be an exciting addition to an already stacked card for UFC 296.
Pyfer slams, then submits, Alhassan for statement win
In the co-main event, Joe Pyfer continued his impressive start to life in the Octagon with a second-round technical submission victory over Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Pyfer loaded up with big shots early as he kept Alhassan on the back foot during the opening round. But, after some smart adjustments from Alhassan at the start of Round 2, Pyfer found himself getting backed up, with Alhassan enjoying some success with a series of heavy calf kicks.
But "Bodybagz" had the perfect answer as he closed the distance and slammed his man to the canvas before locking up a tight arm-triangle choke that put Alhassan unconscious two minutes into the second stanza.
Buckley calls for main event chance after impressive win
Former UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley continued his winning return to welterweight with a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over the teak-tough veteran Alex Morono.
Buckley started out at his explosive best, but found Morono to be a durable, and dangerous, foe, as "Great White" connected with some decent strikes of his own.
But "New Mansa" kept up the aggressive output through the three-round duration to earn scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 and improve his record to 17-6, before calling on the UFC brass to give him a main event assignment for his next outing.
New dad Dober sets new lightweight mark
Also on the main card, lightweight finisher Drew Dober blasted his way to the top of the UFC's all-time lightweight knockouts list with a first-round finish of Ricky Glenn.
Dober, who recently became a father, had his wife and daughter in attendance at the UFC Apex for his bout with Glenn, and he wasted no time in letting his hands go in the early exchanges.
Glenn tried to work his way out of danger, and looked to get the fight to the mat to take Dober out of his heavy-handed game. But Dober worked his way back to his feet, then loaded up again to finish his man half-way through the opening round to register his ninth UFC lightweight knockout and pass Dustin Poirier for the all-time record.
The main card opened with a unanimous decision victory for Bill Algeo, who outpointed Alexander Hernandez 30-27 on all three cards, before calling out Billy Quarantillo, Kron Gracie, and Nate Landwehr, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Mark Zuckerberg!
UFC Vegas 80: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Bobby Green def. Grant Dawson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:33
- Joe Pyfer def. Abdul Razak Alhassan via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:05
- Joaquin Buckley def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Drew Dober def. Ricky Glenn via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:36
- Bill Algeo def. Alexander Hernandez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Diana Belbita via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nate Maness def. Mateus Mendonca via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:40
- Vanessa Demopoulos def. Kanako Murata via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Aoriqileng def. Johnny Munoz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- JJ Aldrich def. Montana De La Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
