- Oct 16, 2026
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Cristian Perez needed less than half a minute to announce his arrival on the UFC stage.
Perez stopped Kyle Nelson by knockout just 27 seconds into the opening round Saturday at UFC Edmonton in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The victory marked the 16th win for Perez, who improved to 16-2 with his 13th career finish by knockout or submission.
The fight began with Perez attempting an Imanari roll, after which Nelson connected with the first significant strike, a right hand. Perez responded with a rapid combination that dropped Nelson, then finished the bout with hammerfists on the ground.
Nelson fell to 17-8-1 with his second consecutive loss by KO or TKO. Three of the Canadian's past four fights have ended by finish.
Perez signed with the promotion from Dana White's Contender Series in August. All 26 fighters on the UFC Edmonton card made weight for the event, which featured a welterweight main event between Joaquin Buckley and Mike Malott and a potential title-shot bout between Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius.
Source: MMA Fighting - Sat Oct 17, 10:00 PM ET
Written by the SportsMafia Wire desk in our own words from the original reporting (AI-assisted, checked against the source).