Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Gustavo Lopez recorded his first Octagon victory earlier tonight (Sat., Nov. 7, 2020) at UFC Vegas 13 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the former Combate Americas standout finished friend Anthony Birchak via first-round submission (rear-naked choke).
Lopez wasted little time rushing in and clobbering Birchak with powerful punches along the cage. Birchak nearly crumbled but stayed alive. That’s when Lopez decided to take the fight to the ground and soften his friend up with punches from full mount. Birchak was forced to roll over and that’s when Lopez locked in the submission finish.
Check out the video highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
With this performance, Lopez rebounds nicely after losing his UFC debut on short notice to Merab Dvalishvili back in June. The talented Mexican fighter is one of the best finishers at the bantamweight level — evident by his performance tonight — so it’s going to be interesting to see what Lopez can do as the climbs the UFC ranks.
For complete UFC Vegas 13 results and coverage click here.