Luiz Cane was building a reputation as one of the most fearsome strikers and promising light heavyweights that the sport had seen in a while.
After fighting UFC newcomer Stanislav Nedkov at UFC 134, however, Cane has now suffered three TKO defeats in four fights.
Starting off, Cane looking sharp. He was backing his Bulgarian opponent down, landing solid strikes and looking to close in on a finish.
Nedkov remained dangerous. One of his powerful counterstrikes clipped Cane’s temple, sending him reeling backwards. Cane tried to regain his wits, but Nedkov followed him with a barrage of unanswered strikes.
The upset came at 4:20 into the very first round.
The relatively unknown Stanislav Nedkov is now a name that will attract some interest in his next matchup, while Luiz Cane falls into a very precarious situation.
Does he get released and try to rebuild his confidence in smaller shows or can he turn things around with another chance in the big leagues?
At 29 and 30 years of age, it is far too soon to draw sweeping conclusions about the trajectory of the rest of their careers, but fans can certainly be happy that they came to fight and put on a hell of a show.
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