The UFC Vegas 37 main card opened with a destructive finish as Joaquin Buckley KOs Antiono Arroyo.

Much of the first two rounds of Buckley vs Arroyo was a competitive affair with both men offering up powerful kicks to one another. However, as the second round progressed, the Brazilian seemed to throw less and Buckley was the aggressor. Landing more strikes as he started to develop a lead on the scorecards.

Joaquin Buckley KOs Antonio Arroyo in final round at UFC Vegas 37

In the third, Arroyo needed a big round, and likely a finish, to avoid losing three straight to start his UFC career. Unfortunately, there was a stoppage in the round, but he was the fighter seeing his night forcefully ended early.

With a little under three minutes left, as the two exchanged strikes, “New Mansa” landed a right hook that hit his opponent on the back of the head. The unintentional shot hurt Arroyo and sent him to the mat. Buckley quickly pounced on his fallen foe and scored with a bunch of heavy ground-and-pound strikes that put Arroyo to sleep and ended the bout at 2:34 in the final round.

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The victory was an important bounce-back win for the American, after a stunning first-round knockout loss to Alessio Di Chirico in January. Ten of Buckley’s 13 wins have been by knockout. He moves to 3-2 in the UFC with all of his wins coming from fight-ending strikes.

Arroyo has now lost three straight in the Octagon following his 2019 win on Dana White’s Contender Series.