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.
