Combat sports: Garcia overwhelms Onama for his 7th straight victory
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It was a physical mismatch.
In Las Vegas, Nev., Albuquerque鈥檚 Steve Garcia battered David Onama with a series of powerful left hands, stopping the Uganda native in 3 minutes, 34 seconds of the first round in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card at UFC Apex.
The victory was Garcia鈥檚 seventh in a row, six of those by knockout or TKO, improved his record to 19-5 and made a strong case for advancement in the UFC鈥檚 featherweight rankings.
Onama dropped to 14-3.
Both men had made the featherweight limit of 145 pounds on Friday. But Saturday in the Octagon, Garcia was the bigger and stronger fighter.
鈥淭he Mean Machine,鈥� while more than living up to his nickname, never landed a devastating single punch. But every punch he threw in the final assault forced Onama to retreat or cover up as Garcia鈥檚 barrage continued.
Onama went down, got up, then went down again as Garcia rained down punches and elbows on the ground before referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the one-sided fight.
Garcia was awarded a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Patient in the opening minutes, Garcia said after the fight he鈥檇 felt a couple of Onama鈥檚 punches but walked through them in imposing his will.
鈥淥nce I turn it on,鈥� he said in a post-fight interview, 鈥淚鈥檓 a problem. For sure.鈥�
Saturday鈥檚 fight was Garcia鈥檚 first UFC main event.
Almost exactly four years ago, he recalled, he鈥檇 defeated Charlie Ontiveros at the Apex in that night鈥檚 first fight on the preliminary card at the Apex.
Things have changed, and for the better.
鈥淣ow,鈥� he said, I鈥檓 headlining it.鈥�
BOXING: Saturday at the Ohkay Resort & Casino north of Espa帽ola, Santa Fean and former UFC fighter Jerome Rivera made a successful boxing debut with a third-round stoppage of Rony Lizano.
In other bouts on a card promoted by Santa Fe鈥檚 Pat Holmes, as reported by :
Santa Fe鈥檚 Angelo Sanchez defeated Joe Garcia by first-round KO. Albuquerque鈥檚 Jorge 鈥淕眉ero鈥� Villarruel made a successful pro debut with a victory by four-round unanimous decision over Cruz Reyes (40-36 on all three cards).
