April 16, 2022 7:37 pm ET
Rafa Garcia spoiled Jesse Ronson’s return to competition Saturday with a slick submission win at UFC on ESPN 34.
It was one-way traffic for Garcia (14-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in the lightweight bout, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He established grappling superiority in the first round over Ronson (21-11 MMA, 0-4 UFC), but hurt his own chances by having a point deducted due to an illegal knee on a getup.
The point deduction appeared to only boost Garcia’s aggression for a finish, though. In Round 2, he got Ronson back on the mat, secured a rear-naked choke and forced the tapout.
Check out the replay of Garcia’s handiwork below (via Twitter):
Love it!! pic.twitter.com/N4avlPp2zt
— Pure Finishes (@PureKnockouts) April 16, 2022
After losing his first pair of UFC fights, Garcia has now turned things around with back-to-back octagon victories. Ronson, meanwhile, remains officially winless under the UFC banner spanning across two stints that date back to 2013.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 34 results include:
- Rafa Garcia def. Jesse Ronson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:50
- Martin Buday def. Chris Barnett via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jordan Leavitt def. Trey Ogden via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Sam Hughes def. Istela Nunes via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
- Heili Alateng def. Kevin Croom via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:47