On an emotional night in front of his adopted hometown, Phil Rowe put together a jaw-dropping performance to stop Niko Price in the opening bout on the main card at UFC Orlando.
After he was nearly stopped moments earlier, Rowe blasted Price with a straight right hand that wobbled the veteran welterweight and led to a dramatic finish. Once Price was hurt, Rowe just surged forward with a barrage of punches that continued chipping away at Price until referee Marc Goddard just couldn’t let him endure any more punishment.
The stoppage came at 3:26 in the third round.
Heading into the fight, Rowe acknowledged that his mother was battling two different forms of cancer so she wasn’t able to be in the arena to watch him perform but he paid homage to her with his victory.
“This is a dream come true,” Rowe said. This is Orlando, for you guys. These guys got nothing for me in here. If my mom can do what she does, ain’t nobody stopping me in here.”
Rowe started the fight strong, racking Price with a few stinging punches during round one. He also displayed good power and accuracy. Unfortunately, Rowe wasn’t upping his output, which allowed Price to stick around and use his conditioning to push the pace through every minute of the fight.
Although Price wasn’t technically skilled, he pursued Rowe relentlessly and led to an almost-knockout combination. Rowe was on rubber legs when Price made a thudding move. It looked like Price would win, but Price ended up punching himself and leaving little to defend his opponent’s victory.
Rowe used laser-like precision to score every time he could, until Price was beaten against the cage. From there, Rowe just kept firing in rapid-fire succession and Price couldn’t withstand the onslaught.
Rowe won his third consecutive knockout victory in the UFC. However, he didn’t lose weight Friday and will not be eligible to receive any bonuses post-fight.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/3/23492057/ufc-orlando-video-phil-rowe-blasts-niko-price-standing-knockout-surviving-near-finish-moment-earlier?rand=96749
