UFC 303: Alex Pereira retains title with head kick KO over Jiri Prochazka

Reuters

Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title on Saturday night, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in the main event bout at UFC 303 in Las Vegas.

Just 12 seconds into the second round, a fierce head kick from Pereira (10-2-0) sent Prochazka (30-4-1) to the mat, where Pereira followed with a barrage of punches before the fight was called.

Prochazka had trouble standing up afterward, and he was rocking back and forth before falling into the hands of the referee and medical personnel.

Saturday's bout was a rematch of a November fight for the vacant light heavyweight championship. Pereira won that clash, too, and has now defended his belt twice.

To open up the main card, Ian Machado Garry, beat Englishman Michael Page by unanimous decision.

Garry (15-0) leveraged his superior grappling against Page's high-movement striking game, taking him down and controlling the action on the ground for much of the fight.

"The key to beating Michael 'Venom' Page was patience," Garry told reporters after becoming the second UFC welterweight to win his first eight fights since joining the organisation following former champion Kamaru Usman.

"I frustrated him. I snaked-charmed a snake-charmer. (Page) likes people to do that dance with him, to move, to keep that flow, the rhythm. And he works well off that rhythm, that timing. I hit him with stealth mode," he added.

Garry, the No. 7 contender in the division below champion Leon Edwards, said he was particularly interested in facing Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0), the unbeaten number-three contender who has finished every opponent so far.

"That fight excites me so much," Garry said. "Shavkat's incredibly talented. I have nothing but respect for the guy... it's purely out of, I don't want anyone else to beat him before me.

"I am on my road to destiny, to be one of the greatest of all time. I'm going to do that by any means necessary, and I don't care how it gets done. In 10 years' time, my name is going to be in that GOAT (greatest of all time) conversation," he added.

In other action Saturday, Diego Lopes and Roman Dolidze both won by unanimous decision. Lopes (25-6-0) beat Dan Ige (18-8-0) in catch weight action, while Dolidze (13-3-0) got the best of Anthony Smith (38-20-0) in a battle of light heavyweights.