Gregory Rodrigues has a wealth of grappling experience on his resume but he’s also got some serious power in his hands.
The Brazilian showcased his knockout power on Saturday at UFC Austin after he unloaded a barrage of shots to finally put Julian Marquez away in a jaw-dropping performance on the main card. The stoppage came at 3:18 in the opening round after Rodrigues unleashed a straight right hand that saw Marquez just crumble to the mat as the referee called a stop to the fight.
“Tonight, I showed what I’m capable of,” Rodrigues stated. I’m unstoppable. I’m unstoppable. My goal is to prove that I am a true fighter. I can fight anyone.
“Julian, is an incredible guy. I think the UFC did their job. I’m just going to wait for what they offer me and I’m going to take the challenge.”
As he continued to slip through Marquez’s defence, Rodrigues kept his hands on the mark. He consistently landed lefts and right with power and precision. Rodrigues was precise in timing his punches, and Marquez never dared to respond, Rodrigues made sure he paid.
When a hook slipped through to snap Marquez’s head back, Rodrigues went for the kill as he just started blasting away with huge shots, digging to the body and then unloading with an uppercut.
To his credit, Marquez refused to go away as he kept swinging wild punches just trying to keep Rodrigues off him but it was ultimately a futile effort.
Rodrigues continued to chase him across the octagon until he threw the punch down the middle that crashed into Marquez’s chin and sent him to the canvas for the last time.
Now 3-1 in the UFC, Rodrigues has been a fun addition to the middleweight division and he bounced back from a razor-close split decision loss in his last outing by keeping the judges sidelined with an impressive first-round knockout.
