LAS VEGAS – Takashi Sato beat Jason Witt with a first-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 12 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Sato, whose past seven wins have been by knockout.
Result: Takashi Sato def. Jason Witt via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:48
Updated records: Sato (16-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Witt (17-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Key stat: Sato outstruck Witt 18-2 and landed 86 percent of his strikes in the 48 seconds he was in there.
Sato on the fight’s key moment
“I was confident that I do have knockout power. I was able to show that and prove that in the octagon tonight. But I always have so many things that I have to work on in my game and I was able to show what I worked on in my fight camp. I hope everyone can value me as someone who can knock out fighters.”
Sato on fighting for his father’s memory
“I was able to speak to my father three days before he passed away. He told me to not come back to Japan – your job is to fight, so just stay in the fight camp and concentrate. I couldn’t fight in New Zealand, so I kept that promise. My father just told me to keep going forward, and that’s what I did in this fight.”
Sato on what he wants next
“I have no injuries and I still have good motivations and I can get back to training camp immediately. If the UFC can give me a good offer, I can take a fight at any time.”
To hear more from Sato, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
Takashi Sato thinks the MMA world is learning he's a knockout artist