Michel Pereira made good on his UFC middleweight debut earlier tonight (Sat., Oct. 14, 2023) at UFC Vegas 81 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the Brazilian striker stopped grappler Andre Petroski with a beautiful first-round TKO (punches).
This fight didn’t last all that long. Pereira quickly found his range and blasted Petroski with a perfectly-timed counter right hand. It landed flush on Petroski’s chin and sent him to the canvas. Pereira followed his efforts up with countless ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in for the stoppage. It was quite impressive and only took 66 seconds.
Check out the final moments above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
Pereira, 30, looked tremendous in his move up from 170 pounds. The Brazilian contender had won five-straight at welterweight heading into this weekend so you would imagine the promotion rushes him along pretty quickly at 185 pounds. And if this is an indication of things to come then “Demolidor” might be taking on top 10 competition sometime next year.
For complete UFC Vegas 81 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
