Daniel Santos showed his incredible durability before stunning John Castaneda in the second round for an unbelievable comeback win.
Santos and Castaneda closed out the preliminary portion of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 61 event with a wild 140-pound catchweight battle.
After getting nearly finished by Castaneda in the first, Santos weathered the storm and pushed a ferocious pace in the second. Castaneda had been having some success but was being visually overwhelmed by Santos pressure and toughness. Santos then gave him a brutal — and loud — knee that sent Castaneda crashing to his mat.
Check out video of the wild finish below.
THE SOUND OF THIS KNEE #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/asHYf7xYWK
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 1, 2022
It was quite a way for Santos — who shared a moment with event guest Mark Zuckerberg following the performance — to get his first octagon victory after dropping his promotional debut via unanimous decision to Julio Arce at UFC 273 in April. To earn the UFC’s opportunity, “Willycat”, had previously won two consecutive bouts.
Castaneda’s UFC record drops to 2-2 after having his two-fight stoppage win streak snapped.