Guard Garrett Temple intends to sign a one-year, $3.6 million deal to return to Toronto, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Fast finishes were the flavour of the night on the UFC 317 preliminary card.
Gregory Rodrigues put Jack Hermansson to sleep with a massive left hand late in the opening round of their middleweight matchup in the featured prelim Saturday in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
The 33-year-old knockout artist from Brazil uncorked a left hook in the final minute of Round 1 that instantly put Hermansson out cold.
Hermansson fell to the canvas, smacked the back of his head on the mat and Rodrigues also landed an additional punch that was unnecessary. The 37-year-old, who represents both Norway and Sweden, remained unconscious for several minutes before coming to.
Rodrigues bounced back from a February technical knockout loss to Jared Cannonier with the statement win over Hermansson, who hadn’t fought since beating Joe Pyfer 16.5 months ago.
In earlier preliminary action, Terrance McKinney improved to 17-7 in mixed martial arts by earning his 16th career first-round stoppage victory thanks to a quick submission of Viacheslav Borshchev.
McKinney, 30 from Spokane, Wash., took the action to the ground immediately after Borshchev threw an early low kick and quickly attacked the neck. McKinney initially went for an anaconda choke, then switched to a mounted guillotine that forced a tap from Borshchev after several seconds of his 33-year-old Russian opponent struggling to escape.
