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Welterweight Carlos Prates made a stunning statement in the main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday, securing a late-first-round knockout against Neil Magny.

Despite Magny entering the fight as the 15th-ranked welterweight, Prates was the sizeable betting favorite. After a few wrestling exchanges, Prates caught Magny with a short left hook, plus a follow-up shot that kept Magny off-balance, leading to the referee stopping the fight at the 4:50 mark of the round.

“Man, I can’t explain how happy I am right now,” Prates said in his post-fight interview.

Prates (21-6-0) has four finishes in the UFC this year and is offering to fight Jack Della Maddalena in his next bout.

Magny (29-14-0) has lost his past two fights since beginning the year with a win against Mike Malott at UFC 297 in January.

Newly minted UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder (18-2-0) did not disappoint in his UFC debut, submitting Gerald Meerschaert (37-18-0) by third-round arm triangle in the co-main event. It was de Ridder’s 12th submission win of his career.

If any fights fall through, de Ridder requested a quick turnaround at UFC 309, which will be held next Saturday in New York.

A bantamweight fight between Gaston Bolanos (8-4-0) and Cortavious Romious (9-3-0) entertained the limited crowd at the UFC APEX. Bolanos rallied after nearly getting finished in Round 1, using his striking volume to win the fight by unanimous decision. He took the cards 30-26, 30-27, 30-27.

Gillian Robertson (15-8-0) beat Luana Pinheiro by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28) in women’s strawweight action, improving her winning streak to three fights. Robertson had no issues defeating Pinheiro (11-4-0), utilizing her wrestling skills and attempting to finish the fight numerous times.

The event opened with Mansur Abdul-Malik (7-0-0) securing a first-round TKO against Dusko Todorovic (12-5-0) in a middleweight battle. It was Abdul-Malik’s UFC debut after successfully graduating from Dana White’s Contender Series with a win against Wes Schultz.

–Field Level Media