At the main event, Georgia’s Merab Dvalalyvili sent the American Sean O’Malley in the third round to keep his weight of a rooster weight.
Dvalalyvili beat O’Malley for the belt last year with a typically relentless display of fighting and mirrored performance in the rematch.
Although O’Malley defended well in the second round, he was overthrown at the beginning of the third and Dvalalyvili never looked back, controlling the action on the floor before ensuring a north-south strangulation.
The victory was the second defense of Dvalalyvili and extended its sequence of victories to 13, the second longest at UFC among active combatants.
Russia’s Islam Makhachev keeps more time with 15.
“I’m at the top of the world. I came out of nowhere, I’m very grateful to inspire so many generations. No matter what you know where you are going and have a goal,” said Dvalalyvili.
At Undercard, the former champion of Bellator Bantamweight Patchy Mix suffered a defeat by unanimous decision on his UFC debut by colleague Mario Bautista.
Mix, who left the PFL in May after venting frustrations with the lack of fights, suffered his second defeat in 22 fights, while Bautista extended his sequence of victories to eight.
