James Vick’s first fight after being released from the UFC in 2019 ended badly last night when he was TKO’d by Andre Fialho at an XMMA event.
The 33-year-old Vick had been heading into the fight off a four-fight losing streak in the UFC, which had included no less than three KO losses against Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker and Niko Price in addition to a defeat on the scorecards against Paul Felder.
However, before that tough series of losses Vick had put together a 9-1 run in the UFC, so he would no doubt have been hoping that a solid run on the regional circuit could propel him back to the big leagues.
To that end, Vick did had some success in the opening round of the fight against Fialho with kicks from range, but just as he was also starting to find the mark with punches in the second round, his former Bellator and PFL opponent connected with a solid counter left that seemed to unsettle him.
A couple of follow-up punches from Fialho then disloged Vick’s mouthpiece, and his opponent didn’t give him time to retrieve it as he poured on the offensive pressure and floored him with hooks.
Vick got back to his feet, still minus his mouthpiece, and tried to re-established his range, but that was easier said than done as Fialho began to connect with big uppercuts and hooks, leading to the TKO stoppage at 2.21mins of the second round.
