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Late in the first round of his welterweight matchup against Sean Spencer on Saturday, Yancy Medeiros rocked Sean Spencer with a head kick.
Spencer survived that attack, but it simply turned out to be a preview of things to come.
Early in the second, Medeiros dropped Spencer with another head kick, pounced, and soon thereafter earned the submission victory. The opening matchup of UFC 203 was waved off at the 29-second mark and Medeiros became the winner via rear-naked choke of the first UFC bout ever held in Cleveland.
“This is me, this is my weight and I’m here,” said the Hawaiian, who jumped up to 170 pounds for the fight.
Medeiros’ late head kick toward the end of the first was likely the decisive blow in a round which was otherwise close, as both carefully picked their spots. Medeiros pounced at the outset of the second round, never letting Spencer get back into the fight.
Medeiros (13-4, 1 NC) won for the second time in his past three fights and record his 10th career finish. Spencer (12-6) has dropped three straight and four of his past five.