Khaos Williams left it until the third round of his fight with Miguel Baeza tonight at UFC Fight Night 197 to land a thunderous right hook TKO finish.
Round One:
Williams immediately starts to stalk Baeza, who circles on the outside. Big swing and a miss from Williams As Baeza slides out of the way.
Baeza reaching for a takedown, but nothing doing. Lots of movement from Baeza. Calf kick from Williams. He lands another, but less cleanly this time.
Williams steps into striking range and eats two big punches from Baeza. In the center of the Octagon Williams lands a heavy punch of his own that stopped Baeza in his tracks for a brief moment. Both fighters have felt the others power now.
Big leg kick from Williams and Baeza drops down to the mat. Williams chases him, but it might be a trap he’s walked into as Baeza immediately starts working on a leg lock.
Tough spot for Williams as Baeza tries to go belly down on this attempt. Williams able to buy himself at time and tries to land punches, but Baeza is staying long to keep out of reach.
Baeza readjusting and continues to work for a submission, but Williams finds more of a 50/50 position from where he can start to land some punches back. He does connect with a few and though Baeza remains busy trying to find a tapout, it doesn’t come before the end of the round.
Round Two:
More cautious start to the second round for Williams, not chasing his opponent quite so much. They exchange low leg kicks.
Baeza lands another calf kick and Williams works an outside leg kick too. Another from Williams and a jab from Baeza.
Baeza kicks to the leg again. Quick exchange of punches in close and Williams got the better of that exchange. Baeza complains of a groin strike and the ref does give him time to recover.
Solid leg kick from Baeza and then again he lands it with power. He continues to work for that same technique, but then has to utilize head movement as Williams tries to land a punch upstairs.
Missed head kick from Williams. More low kicks from Baeza and Williams is starting to look a bit unsteady on that lead leg.
Inside leg kick for Williams. Front kick to the body from Baeza. Baeza misses on an overhand and Williams lands a counter punch.
Jab for Baeza and Williams lands two inside leg kicks in rapid succession. A couple of big punches get through for Williams.
Double jab and a straight from Baeza. Williams drives into a takedown attempt and clinches up against the cage, but then lands a knee to the groin, which forces another stoppage. While Baeza takes time to recover, Williams gets a final warning, which means he’ll lose a point if he lands an illegal blow again.
Hard right hand lands for Williams and he just misses with a front kick upstairs afterwards, just before the horn sounds for the end of the round.
Round Three:
Inside leg kick for Williams. Baeza misses a front kick to the body. Leg kick does land for him though. Both try to land an overhand at the same time and miss, but Williams does connect with a punch afterwards.
Spinning attempt from Williams misses. Baeza throws two calf kicks, but then as he tries to land follow-up hooks, Williams clocks him clean with a right hook to the chin that sends him crumpling to the mat, and the ref immediately rushes in to end the fight by TKO at 1.02mins of the final round.
Baeza immediately protests and is soon back up on his feet as he continues to do so, but it certainly looked like he was out for a moment as he dropped to the mat.
