MACAU, CHINA – NOVEMBER 23: Xiao Long of China punches Quang Le of Vietnam in a bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event held at Galaxy Arena on November 23, 2024 in Macau, China. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Bantamweights Xiao Long (China) and Quang Le (Vietnam) met early on Saturday as part of the UFC Macau qualifying card.
Both fighters are 0-1 under the UFC banner and were looking for their first wins inside the Octagon.
Lee landed a sharp left hook within a fairly busy first minute. Long continued to take those punches, but Lee continued to have success with his hands, forcing Long back multiple times. As the rounds progressed, Long had some moments of his own, and Lee mixed in his kicks, proving his left hand was his most dangerous weapon early in the fight.
Later in the round, Lee began using his jab while continuing to find a home for left and right hooks. Long caught the kick and threw Lee away with just over a minute left, but Lee scrambled to his feet quickly. Long went to the body once or twice and ended the round of attacks by pointing to the floor and clipping Lee.
The second round started hot, with Long landing leg kicks to disrupt the fight. Wrestling was nowhere to be found, opting instead for pure fisticuffs, often in close quarters combat. After some more wild action, things finally changed when Quang Le followed up and briefly got a takedown with 90 seconds left. Pardon the joke, however, but Long didn’t stick around for long. In the stand-up division, both fighters continued to attack with considerable power, with Long gaining momentum again at the end of the round and even landing a flying knee.
In the final round, Long was knocked off balance by a punch that resulted in Lee narrowly missing a takedown, but instead they returned to their feet and Long missed another jumping knee. Then, out of nowhere, Xiaolong took a shot and connected with a perfectly placed right hand from a one-two! Lee fell backwards and the referee tried his best to shake it off!
Official result: Xiao Long def. Quang Le knockout (punch), round 3, 1:28
