Francesco Nuzzi didn’t need long to make a statement in his UFC debut at UFC Shanghai, scoring a 60-second finish of Xiao Long during the preliminary card.
Long didn’t make things easy, however, bringing the energy right away with a flying knee. Nuzzi got back up quickly, but the fight was halted shortly after due to an accidental eye poke.
About a minute later, Nuzzi landed a strong left hand that wobbled Long. A flurry of strikes forced Long to a knee, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the fight. Long attempted to protest but was on wobbly legs, even nearly falling out of the Octagon at one point.
Nuzzi, a veteran of the PFL and Cage Warriors, is now 12-2 in his MMA career. He entered this bout off a no contest against Manoel Silva at Cage Warriors 204 in April.
