Nate Maness was nearly finished in the first round and then he came back to use almost the exact same punch to finish Tony Gravely in the second round at UFC Vegas 37.
It was a wild sequence of events after Maness got caught with a huge right hook that put him down with the end of the round likely saving him from being finished. Maness then stormed back to use a right hook of his own to blast Gravely just moments later in the second round but he wasn’t going to let the fight continue as he just kept throwing punches until the referee saw enough to stop it.
The end came at 2:10 in the second round.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been dropped in my whole career,” Maness admitted after his win. “I went to the body and I could feel that hurt him so I come up with the hook right after. It made contact. I hit really hard at 135
The bantamweights were trading heavy leather throughout the fight with Gravely looking to close the distance while Maness was attempting to keep his opponent on the end of his jab. While Maness was really starting to establish his straight punches, Gravely was still chipping away with big, looping punches.
Just before the first round ended, Gravely unloaded a devastating right hook that twisted Maness’ head around and sat him down on the canvas. Gravely followed him to the ground where he threw a few more punches but time ran out in the first round, which saved Maness from almost certain defeat.
Looking like he was still dazed between rounds, Maness came out and immediately had to defend a barrage of punches from Gravely, who really wanted to capitalize on his near finish.
That came back to bit him after Maness lured him into an exchange and that’s where he dug to the body and then threw the right hook that caught Gravely off guard. As soon as Gravely fell to the canvas, Maness was just launching shots at him until it was clear there was no coming back.
Now 3-0 in the UFC, Maness appears to be a serious prospect on the rise as he continues to climb his way through a very deep bantamweight division.
Get the latest gear
