Montel Jackson was patient at first, but the finishing sequence of his UFC Fight Night 222 bantamweight bout lived up to his nickname.
In the penultimate preliminary bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas which aired on ESPN+, “Quik” Jackson (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) showed off his speedy hands in a fast counter sequence to finish Rani Yahya in the first round. The official time of the knockout stoppage was 3:42.
Yahya (28-11-1 MMA, 13-5-1 UFC) lunged forward with a right hand, and Jackson executed a well-timed pull counter with a crisp left hand to drop his opponent. Jackson then quickly swarmed with follow-up punches to end the fight.
Watch video of the finish below (via Twitter):
Those @Montello135 hands are QUICK 👊 #UFCVegas71 pic.twitter.com/2JA3im5cXI
— UFC (@ufc) April 22, 2023
Jackson, 30, has now won his last four outings. He entered Saturday’s contests with consecutive wins over Jesse Strader, JP Buys, and Julio Arce. The Dana White’s Contender Series veteran is now 7-2 in his UFC run.
Yahya, 38, sees his two-fight winning streak come to an end. The Brazilian entered with back-to-back wins over Ray Rodriguez and Kyung Ho Kang.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 222 include:
- Montel Jackson def. Rani Yahya via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:42
- Norma Dumont def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mohammed Usman def. Junior Tafa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- William Gomis def. Francis Marshall via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Brady Hiestand def. Danaa Batgerel via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:21
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
