LAS VEGAS – Tamires Vidal may have joked and danced her way into the octagon for her debut at UFC Fight Night 214. Once the fight started, though, she was all business.
Vidal (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) wasted no time landing hard shots on Romona Pascual (6-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) – who missed weight for the women’s bantamweight contest at the UFC Apex. The Brazilian finished the job in a little more than three minutes, when she went up the middle with a switch knee to the body of her opponent.
Pascual immediately keeled over after taking the shot, and the referee jumped in to wave it off.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via Twitter):
How about THAT for an Octagon debut!?
Tamires Vidal with the first round finish to kick off #UFCVegas64 💥 pic.twitter.com/YmFlyEVvnJ
— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2022
Tamires Vidal putting the bantamweight division on notice 👏 #UFCVegas64 pic.twitter.com/BrHJnyOFs7
— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2022
The finish marked just the third knockout in women’s UFC history to stem from a knee strike to the body. After the stellar debut, 24-year-old Vidal was thrilled to take the next step in her career.
“It just dawned on me that this happened,” Vidal said through an interpreter during her post-fight interview. “My nickname is ‘Bulldozer’ and I’m always powering forward.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 214.
