Rhys McKee is finally in the win column as a UFC fighter.
The Irish welterweight avoided falling to 0-5 in the organization by earning an impressive one-round victory over Daniel Frunza on the preliminary card Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Murphy.
Both men landed 43 significant strikes each, yet McKee registered three separate knockdowns in the opening five minutes.
Frunza, a 2024 contract winner on Dana White’s Contender Series, suffered a swollen right eye and a laceration on his bottom lip.
The cut to Fruzna’s lip resulted in the cageside physician calling a stop to the fight between Round 1 and Round 2.
McKee, now 29, debuted in the UFC in 2020 as a Cage Warriors veteran with a tough assignment, getting matched up with Khamzat Chimaev. McKee was finished by Chimaev with ground-and-pound in the opening round, then lost a decision to Alex Morono before returning to Cage Warriors.
A three-fight winning streak in that organization resulted in a second stint in the UFC, and after decision losses to Ange Loosa and Chidi Njokuani, McKee was finally able to break his streak Saturday at the UFC Apex.
Earlier on the prelims, the fifth time was not the charm for Istela Nunes who fell to 0-5 at the UFC level.
Nunes lost a unanimous decision to Loma Lookboonmee.
The 32-year-old from Brazil had her moments in the 15-minute strawweight contest and reacted surprised when Lookboonmee’s name was announced as the winner.
Nunes joined John Alessio, Sean Soriano and Naoyuki Kotani as the only other 0-5 fighters in UFC history.
In other preliminary action, Dione Barbosa submitted Diana Belbita with an arm-triangle choke in the opening round of their flyweight bout.
Victor Henry and Talita Alencar won decisions over Pedro Falcao and Vanessa Demopoulos, respectively.
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