Gregory Rodrigues KO’s Julian Marquez at UFC on ESPN 37

The main event of the evening will feature two top featherweights as Josh Emmett looks to break into the top five of the division against “The Boston Finisher” Calvin Kattar. Prior to that, we will see Kevin Holland and UFC vet, Tim Means, battle it out in the co-main event.

Slated for the second fight of the main card are middleweight contenders, Julian Marquez, and Gregory Rodrigues. Both of which will look to make a statement tonight and put the middleweight division on notice.

Marquez (9-2-0) made his way to the UFC via the 2017 season of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he defeated Phil Hawes with a second-round head-kick knockout. Since then, he has gone 3-1 under the UFC banner, holding wins over Darren Stewart, Maki Pitolo, and Sam Alvey. Tonight, he will be looking to increase his win streak from 2 to 3 as he takes on Rodrigues.

Rodrigues (11-4-0) may be coming off of a loss to Armen Petrosyan, but prior to that, he had gone undefeated in the UFC having defeated Dusko Todorovic and Jun Yong Park in 2021. Tonight the former LFA middleweight champion will look to get back in the win column.

The two touch gloves to start the bout. Marquez opens up with a calf kick as they feel each other out. Rodrigues opens up with a nice combination as Marquez continues with the calf kicks. Big right cross from Rodrigues setting Marquez back. Rodrigues is looking sharp as he drops Marquez with a right. Rodrigues gains top pressure and gets the back of Marquez. The two stand and break apart. Big body shot from Rodrigues as Marquez begins to trade. Big uppercut for Rodrigues and a few hooks that drop Marquez. Rodrigues is unloading as Marquez battles back and lands a few of his own. AND IT’S OVER! HUGE KNOCKOUT FOR RODRIGUES!

Official result: Gregory Rodrigues defeats Julian Marquez via first-round KO.

Check out full UFC on ESPN 37 results here.