Billy Quarantillo scores unusual TKO

Billy Quarantillo guaranteed to come back strong from his first defeat in the UFC.

The featherweight boxer clinched a TKO victory over veteran Gabriel Benitez in the UFC’s opening bout on ESPN’s main card 26. The event took place Saturday night at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nev. Quarantillo won in stoppage time at 3:40 of the third round.

After an outstanding performance, @BillyQMMA conceded in round 3 # UFCVegas31 pic.twitter.com/c9cxZzF53m

– ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 18, 2021

It was an unusual TKO win, as Quarantillo was called a fight by the referee after a wave of attacks from bottom control. Benitez took a step back, but cornered Quarantillo and prevented him from getting the top spot. The opportunity stopped after two exciting rounds when Quarantillo unleashed a good amount of damage, defeating the Mexican boxer.

With this result, Quarantillo has returned to the winning milestone after his first loss in the UFC last December. He suffered a decisive defeat against Gavin Tucker. The 32-year-old called out Charles Rosa in his post-match interview, when he wanted to climb the featherweight ladder.

Update every minute UFC results on ESPN 26 include:

• Billy Quarantillo def. Gabriel Benitez via TKO (punch) – Round 3, 3:40
• Daniel Rodriguez objected. Preston Parsons via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 3:47
• Amanda Lemos objected. Montserrat Conejo through knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:35
• Sergey Morozov defeated. Khalid Taha adopts unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Malcolm Gordon objected. Francisco Figuentico adopts unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Rodrigo Nascimento defeated. Alan Baudot via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 1:29