It doesn’t get much better than your first UFC victory being an impressive stoppage, and that’s exactly what 21-year-old Francisco Prado created.
On the main card of UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Prado (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) took care of business against Ottman Azaitar (13-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC). The lightweight bout was stopped by the referee at 4:05 of Round 1.
Prado was aggressive from the start. He dictated the pace of the fight by controlling the center of the cage and going first with punches. He also kept Azaitar guessing by mixing in a few takedown attempts. What led to the finish was a beautiful spinning elbow along the fence that caught Azaitar clean, sending him to the canvas. Azaitar was rocked and bloodied, and from that point on, Prado threw bombs from the top until the referee saw enough.
FRANCISCO PRADO HAMMERS HOME THE WIN 🔨 #UFCVegas77 pic.twitter.com/9WPnTdKpck
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 16, 2023
Prado stumbled in his UFC debut, losing a unanimous decision to Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 284 in February. However, his rebound performance was one that he will not forget.
On the other side, Azaitar falls to .500 in the UFC, having lost his last two outings after picking up a pair of first-round finishes to begin his run with the promotion.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 49 results include:
- Francisco Prado def. Ottman Azaitar via TKO (elbow, punches) – Round 1, 4:05
- Junyong Park def. Albert Duraev via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:45
- Norma Dumont def. Chelsea Chandler via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nazim Sadykhov def. Terrance McKinney via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:07
- Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Tucker Lutz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Viktoriia Dudakova def. Istela Nunes via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 0:34
- Melquizael Costa def. Austin Lingo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Evan Elder def. Genaro Valdez via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
- Azat Maksum def. Tyson Nam via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Alexander Munoz def. Carl Deaton via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
- Ailin Perez def. Ashlee Evans-Smith via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 49.
