David Onama was down early but then came back late to deliver a blistering knockout of Gabriel Benitez in the featured preliminary bout at UFC Vegas 48.
A punch directly to the eye early in the fight left Onama blinking and barely able to see, but he eventually was able to settle down and recover. Onama then turned the tables by storming forward with a ridiculous 11-punch combination that sent Benitez crumbling to the mat as the referee rushed into stop the action, the end coming at 4:24 in the first round.
“Fifty Gs baby!” Onama said while calling for a $50,000 post-fight bonus. “That’s 50 Gs! That’s what I do. That’s what I’m here for.”
When the action first started, Benitez looked to bully Onama around the cage as he started to throw a series of leg kicks along with punches that landed on target.
Benitez connected with the punch to the eye that had Onama rubbing at his face and trying to find his footing. Even after the fight, Onama said he was still struggling to get his vision back.
“I can’t even see right now,” Onama said. “It was quick. It was pretty blurry. I can’t see sh*t.”
Thankfully, the injured eye didn’t prevent Onama from continuing to fight — and he soon took advantage of Benitez’s aggressiveness, which allowed him to begin firing back with counter shots. As soon as Benitez started backing up, Onama rushed ahead with machine gun-like fire in his punches.
As the last couple of strikes landed, Benitez slumped down to the floor and the fight was stopped, with Onama celebrating his first win and first knockout in the UFC.
