Welcome to the UFC, Josh Quinlan.
The Hawaii native has claimed a stunning one-punch knockout victory on his UFC debut, defeating American opponent Jason Witt in the first round of Sunday morning’s catchweight contest in San Diego.
Quinlan needed just over two minutes to send his rival to the canvas, throwing a well-directed hard counter left as Witt attacked his body with a kick.
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The 29-year-old initially dived in for a follow-up after Witt flopped to the floor, but he thankfully restrained from attacking his dazed opponent.
“Sometimes you have to do follow-up punches … you don’t know if he’s going to recover,” Quinlan told reporters after the victory.
“Even though he hit the ground, I didn’t know if he was out or not — I didn’t know if he was going to pop up or if he was going to regain his bearings.
“I pounced on him, I was going to throw a couple more blows, but I saw he kind of went limp a little bit and the ref kind of called it out as well.
“I’m glad I was able to have that restraint, but that might not be the case all the time.
“We’re going in there to finish our opponent, and he’s going in to finish me, so I want to make sure the job’s done.
“We have to go until we’re told to stop, but I’m glad I was able to keep my composure … I’m not looking to hurt people in there, but we’re trying to bring out the best martial arts in each other.”
Quinlan, who appeared on Dana White’s Contender Seriesimproves his professional record to 6-0 (1 NC), with all of his wins coming via knockout or submission.
Witt, meanwhile, suffered a second-consecutive loss, falling to 2-4 in the UFC.
Later on the UFC San Diego card, featherweight fighter Nate Landwehr defeated David Onama via majority decision (29-27 x 2, 28-28) in an enthralling slugfest.
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