Tyson Pedro is back in the win column for the first time since January 2018.
Pedro returned to action after a slew of injuries that kept him out of action for several years, squaring off with Ike Villanueva during the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 52 on Saturday. The 30-year-old lived up to his massive favorite betting line, hurting Villanueva badly with leg kicks before landing a pair of brutal uppercuts that led to Mark Smith calling a stop to the action at the 4:55 mark of Round 1.
Check out the finish below:
Tyson Pedro threw some HUGE shots #UFCVegas52 pic.twitter.com/fbWPbiqxTf
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 24, 2022
While the finish was spectacular, early portions of the bout were not as Pedro landed two low blows to Villanueva in a little over 90 seconds; the second was a hard knee that stopped the bout for a couple of minutes. Smith decided to allow the fight continue without taking any points, even though Pedro had stopped the fighting shortly after it resumed.
Pedro snapped a two-fight skid with his fourth octagon victory, while Villanueva drops to 1-5 in the UFC.