Johnny Walker stops Cortes-Acosta in third; Suarez wins decision

Johnny Walker found the finish after Waldo Cortes-Acosta had repeatedly put him under pressure. Walker won Saturday’s UFC heavyweight main event at Meta APEX by TKO from punches at 2:27 of the third round.

Tatiana Suarez defeated Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision in the strawweight co-main event, with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Elijah Smith supplied the main card’s quickest finish, knocking out Davey Grant one minute into their bantamweight bout.

A finish after two difficult rounds

MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura and Sherdog’s Brian Knapp described Cortes-Acosta hurting Walker early and controlling him from top position during the second round. Walker kept attacking the lead leg, then landed the head kick that opened the finishing sequence in the third.

That change of distance decided the fight. Cortes-Acosta had been able to crowd Walker and put him against the cage. Once Walker had room to kick, he turned a difficult fight into a stoppage. The recorded result is a TKO, with punches completing the finish.

Suarez wins the grappling exchanges

Suarez’s win required sustained control rather than one decisive strike. MMA Junkie’s round-by-round account described Jandiroba defending takedowns, landing in the clinch and threatening with leg attacks. Suarez escaped those threats and established top position in the later rounds.

Two judges gave Suarez all three rounds; the third scored it two rounds to one. She improved to 13-1 overall and 10-1 in the UFC, according to MMA Junkie’s completed results.

Smith’s one-minute knockout moved him to 4-0 in the UFC, according to the same report. Together, his finish and Walker’s turnaround gave the card two sharply different demonstrations of how quickly a striking opening can end a bout.