Drew Dober marked his 25th UFC fight on Saturday, but the event turned sour quickly.
The experienced lightweight was knocked out in under two minutes in his UFC Mexico bout against Manuel Torres. Torres landed a strong right hand, followed by a series of hammer fists. The referee`s late stoppage allowed Dober to take several unnecessary hits to the head while clearly unable to defend himself.
Dober shared his reaction to the defeat in a social media post on Sunday:
“Well, that was bad,” Dober admitted. “Manuel Torres executed a perfectly timed 1-2. Ultimately, I stepped into the path of a powerful punch from a fighter with reach.”
Dober did not directly address the controversial ending, where he quickly stood up and seemed ready to continue fighting after the stoppage.
This marks Dober’s third knockout loss in the UFC, and his second consecutive loss by knockout, including a TKO against Jean Silva in July. The 36-year-old fighter has now lost three fights in a row and four out of his last five.
Known for earning UFC bonuses, with eight in his career, this time the $50,000 bonus went to Torres for the knockout victory, his fourth bonus in four wins.
Wesley Dunham