Combat sports: Garcia overwhelms Onama for his 7th straight victory

It was a physical mismatch.

In Las Vegas, Nev., Albuquerque’s Steve Garcia battered David Onama with a series of powerful left hands, stopping the Uganda native in 3 minutes, 34 seconds of the first round in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card at UFC Apex.

The victory was Garcia’s seventh in a row, six of those by knockout or TKO, improved his record to 19-5 and made a strong case for advancement in the UFC’s featherweight rankings.

Onama dropped to 14-3.

Both men had made the featherweight limit of 145 pounds on Friday. But Saturday in the Octagon, Garcia was the bigger and stronger fighter.

“The Mean Machine,” while more than living up to his nickname, never landed a devastating single punch. But every punch he threw in the final assault forced Onama to retreat or cover up as Garcia’s barrage continued.

Onama went down, got up, then went down again as Garcia rained down punches and elbows on the ground before referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the one-sided fight.

Garcia was awarded a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.

Patient in the opening minutes, Garcia said after the fight he’d felt a couple of Onama’s punches but walked through them in imposing his will.

“Once I turn it on,” he said in a post-fight interview, “I’m a problem. For sure.”

Saturday’s fight was Garcia’s first UFC main event.

Almost exactly four years ago, he recalled, he’d defeated Charlie Ontiveros at the Apex in that night’s first fight on the preliminary card at the Apex.

Things have changed, and for the better.

“Now,” he said, I’m headlining it.”

BOXING: Saturday at the Ohkay Resort & Casino north of Española, Santa Fean and former UFC fighter Jerome Rivera made a successful boxing debut with a third-round stoppage of Rony Lizano.

In other bouts on a card promoted by Santa Fe’s Pat Holmes, as reported by boxingnewmexico.com:

Santa Fe’s Angelo Sanchez defeated Joe Garcia by first-round KO. Albuquerque’s Jorge “Güero” Villarruel made a successful pro debut with a victory by four-round unanimous decision over Cruz Reyes (40-36 on all three cards).