Talk about an emphatic return to the Octagon for Gregor Gillespie. Matching with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, Diego Ferreira on the main card fo UFC Vegas 26 in a catchweight contest, the wrestling maestro stopped the Brazilian with a rallying second round ground strikes effort.
Making his first Octagon walk since a stunning high-kick knockout loss to former interim lightweight title challenger, Kevin Lee back in December of 2019 at UFC 245 — Gillespie survived some early opening round adversity.
Struggling to get Fortis MMA trainee, Ferreira down on cue with his takedowns, Gillespie was swept on occasion when he eventually ended up on the mat, but most notably, staggered back to his corner between rounds after eating some heavy counter strikes.
With Ferreira severely fatigued within the opening couple of minutes of the second round, Gillespie started to find his own second wind, before forcing Ferreira to his stomach, eventually forcing referee, Chris Tognoni to stop the bout amid a slew of ground strikes.
Below, catch the highlights from Gillespie’s Fight of the Night display against Ferreira.
ALL HEART
@Gregor_The_Gift rallies to get the GnP finish! #UFCVegas26 pic.twitter.com/H7ZybIc8Gy
— UFC (@ufc) May 9, 2021
The Gift Gregor Gillespie gets it done in the second round!
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 9, 2021