The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its debut in the Czech Republic on Saturday with UFC on ESPN+3 at the O2 Arena in Prague. The event was headlined by a bout between two top ten contenders in the light heavyweight division, Jan Blachowicz and Thiago “Marreta” Santos.
Blachowicz, a former KSW light heavyweight champion, entered the bout on a four-fight winning streak. Santos, meanwhile, was on two-fight streak with wins in six of his last seven outings — five by TKO or knockout.
When it was all said and finished, it was Santos who kept his streak alive with a brutal third-round finish of Blachowicz.
Santos landed a heavy right hand followed by a left hand, which dropped Blachowicz to the canvas. Once “Marreta” smelled blood, he pounced on for the finish with some vicious ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in to save the day. With the win, Santos is now tied for second in UFC history with 11 knockouts.
The brutal finish that could set Santos in line for a title shot can be seen below:
The full results from UFC Prague and video highlights of the best finishes can be seen below.
UFC on ESPN+3 Results
Czech it out! 
#UFCPrague gets underway at the top of the hour on @ESPN 2!Thiago “Marreta” Santos def. Jan Blachowicz via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:39
Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:21
If this is it for @StefanStruve, he went out
#UFCPrague pic.twitter.com/vyXjYKbTAB
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 23, 2019
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:34
Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Petr Yan def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Farias via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:10
Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:27
Damir Hadzovic def. Marco Polo Reyes via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:03
Ismail Naurdiev def. Michel Prazeres via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
