The highlight of Timmy Cuamba’s career came at UFC Kansas City. The 26-year-old featherweight could have had a better start to his UFC run, having dropped his first two fights in the Octagon last year. Cuamba lost back-to-back decisions at to Bolaji Oki in his debut and Lucas Almeida before returning 10 months later in his first fight in front of a crowd. The Fight Night card’s headlined by a welterweight matchup between
Ian Machado Garry and
Carlos Prates . The
Contender Series alumni faced a tough Roberto Romero on the
UFC Kansas City prelims on Saturday night and man, did he deliver.
Timmy Cuamba wins first UFC fight with emphatic flying knee
It was a striking clinic for Cuamba, who lit up Romero through two rounds. In the second round, Cuamba opened up a cut on the Mexican with a sharp elbow. With a little more than 90 seconds to go, Cuamba rocked Romero with a beautiful right hand. Seconds later, Romero ate a massive headkick from Cuamba, still walking forward after the strike. Romero put Cuamba on his back foot and as he was moving in, Cuamba landed a flying knee which connected right on the chin. Covered in blood, Romero was sent down to the canvas and Cuamba landed a couple more strikes before the referee put a stop to the contest. Timmy Cuamba had finally made it to the UFC win column, saving his career from a brutal 0-3 start.
UFC fans complain about ‘early stoppage’
The TKO result didn’t come without controversy, however. As the referee stepped in, the grounded Romero immediately rose back to his feet, running at his opponent. The referee quickly grabbed ahold of his arm, securing Romero with the fight already over. After the initial knee, the referee waited around 3-4 seconds before getting in between the fighters with UFC commentator Paul Felder questioning if it was an early stoppage. “That stoppage sucks,” one fan wrote on
X . “Felt like slightly an early stoppage but Timmy started teeing off at the end….” another fan wrote on X. “Such an early stoppage, these referees don’t get it, fighters train and work hard for months, you have to give them a chance to fight,” one fan wrote on X.
