UFC Vegas 33 video: Phil Rowe blasts Orion Cosce with huge barrage of strikes, finishes with brutal straight right hand
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Phil Rowe had to throw everything and the kitchen sink at Orion Cosce but his relentless offense eventually paid off to help him earn his first win inside the octagon.
As the opening bout on the UFC Vegas 33 preliminary card, Rowe caught Cosce with a staggering right hand midway through the second round and then he just began unloading with a variety of strikes including several knees to the face and numerous shots to the body. Despite his best efforts Cosce refused to go away until Rowe backed him up to the cage and unleashed a vicious straight right hand down the middle that crumpled his fellow Contender Series veteran to end the fight.
The stoppage came at 4:21 in the second round.
“My coach told me just to chill and be me,” Rowe said about the adjustments he made between rounds. “It’s just a long time coming. Once I click in here, it’s a wrap.”
After a lackluster outing in his UFC debut, Rowe was determined to turn things around in his second appearance but he spent most of the first round on his back defending a grappling-heavy strategy from Cosce.
Once he got restarted in the second round the momentum quickly shifted with Rowe opening up with more of his striking attack while making use of a huge nine-plus-inch reach advantage.
After cracking Cosce with the first straight right hand that twisted his head around like a bottle cap, Rowe was on the attack while still being careful because his opponent simply refused to go away. Even with Rowe trapping him in the clinch and blasting away with knees, Cosce would not fall to the ground.
Just when it looked like they might see a third round, Rowe pushed Cosce against the cage and fired the straight right down the pipe that finally stopped the fight.
Now 1-1 in the UFC, Rowe seemed much more comfortable in his second appearance in the promotion and he’ll go home with a win on his record following an impressive stoppage over a solid prospect in Cosce. However, Rowe did miss weight for the bout, coming in 2.5 pounds over the welterweight limit.