UFC 270 video: Matt Frevola lands 4 knockdowns before finishing Genaro Valdez, fighters react to controversial stoppage

The bar for Fight of the Night at UFC 270 has been set after Matt Frevola went to war with Genaro Valdez before finally earning a first-round finish.

The back and forth battle began with the opening exchange. Frevola eventually took over when he blasted Valdez, landing a shot that knocked him to the ground. As it turns out, Frevola had to land a total of four recorded knockdowns before he was finally able to take Valdez’s back and hammer away with ground and pound to earn the TKO stoppage.

The end came at 3:15 in a wild first round.

” I knew that he was an extremely tough Mexican fighter,” Frevola stated about Valdez afterward. “I’m learning and I’m growing in this octagon.

“I got it done tonight. I just knew he was so tough. It was hard to finish, but I persevered .”

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It was a frantic pace from the start with Valdez marching forward and throwing bombs as he sought a knockout of his own and after tagging Frevola early, it appeared he might have that opportunity. Valdez even landed a well timed knee up the middle that seemingly put Frevola on wobbly legs, although he recovered quickly to begin countering with his own flurry of punches.

Frevola responded with some nasty combinations and Valdez’s aggressiveness, leaving him vulnerable for the punches that would follow. The furious exchanges led to Valdez hitting the ground four times in just about two minutes but referee Mike Beltran continued to let the fight move forward as the Contender Series veteran kept trying to comeback.

It wasn’t until Frevola landed Valdez flat on the floor and began to rain punches on him that the fight ended.

Several fighters responded to the endpage, particularly after Valdez had suffered numerous knockdowns in the first round.

Regardless of the reaction, Frevola will certainly celebrate his win as he gets back on track following back-to-back losses in his previous two appearances inside the octagon.