The co-main event delivered everything fight fans crave, Chris Duncan locked horns with Mateusz Rębecki inside UFC APEX for a three-round war that left both fighters bleeding and battered. In the end, Duncan defeats Mateusz Rebeckhi via unanimous decision. Under the bright lights of UFC APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday, August 2, Mateusz Rębecki and Chris Duncan served up a gritty lightweight showdown as the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Taira vs. Park.
Rębecki came into this fight riding high on his UFC debut record, including a tough split-decision war at UFC 308 where he earned Fight of the Night honors. Before that highlight win, Rębecki suffered a knockout loss to veteran Diego Ferreira at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento, marking the only blemish on his record since 2015. He followed it with a dominant nine-fight win streak.
His opponent, Chris Duncan in his most recent bout in UFC London, Duncan secured a second-round guillotine choke submission over Jordan Vucenic at UFC Fight Night. Earlier in September 2024, he earned another first-round guillotine choke victory over Bolaji Oki at UFC Paris Fight Night. He now has multiple performance finishes via submission. Duncan’s most recent defeat came via rear-naked choke in the first round against Manuel Torres on February 24, 2024, at UFC Fight Night, It remains his sole UFC loss by submission.
From the opening moments of the fight, Duncan and Rębecki ditched caution. Round 1 exploded fast, Rębecki stunned Duncan with a brief knockdown and scored a takedown, but both men traded vicious elbows, hooks, and the damage began piling on. Duncan’s body kick and banging strikes backed Rębecki into the fence, leaving serious swelling around one of his eyes.
Round 2 started with the two fighters touching gloves, they wasted no time before getting to action. Duncan stayed aggressive, keeping the fight tight and targeting Rębecki’s swollen eye. Despite taking damage and dealing with cuts, Rębecki kept swinging big shots, but most missed the mark. Duncan stayed sharp, landing clean combos and slowly taking control. Duncan’s composure shined. He targeted Rębecki’s lead leg with precision and punctuated a flurry with a head kick that visibly rocked him. Even when the fight hit the canvas, Duncan remained composed, working his way back to the feet each time
It was the final round and Duncan let his hands fly, landing clean combinations and even threatening an anaconda choke at one point. Rębecki answered with bombs of his own, gritting through the pain and pushing forward.
It was a war to the finish. Duncan connected with some crisp right hands and Rębecki didn’t back down, But Duncan’s steady pace, cleaner shots, and control earned him the win. After three chaotic rounds of non-stop action, Chris Duncan emerged victorious by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27), capping off what many fans are calling one of the bloodiest and most unforgettable lightweight wars of the year
Check out UFC Fight Night results below:
Main Card
Tatsuro Taira def. Hyun Sung Park via submission (face crank) (R2, 1:06)
Chris Duncan def. Mateusz Rebecki via unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
Esteban Ribovics def. Elves Brener via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Karol Rosa def. Nora Cornolle via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27 x2)
Neil Magny def. Elizeu Zaleski via TKO (strikes) (R2, 4:39)
Kevin Vallejos def. Danny Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Preliminary Card
Rinya Nakamura def. Nathan Fletcher via TKO (body kick, strikes) (R1, 1:02)
Rodolfo Vieira def. Tresean Gore via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Andrey Pulyaev def. Nick Klein via TKO (body kick, strikes) (R2, 1:31)
Austin Bashi def. John Yannis via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 3:39)
Rafael Estevam def. Felipe Bunes via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Piera Rodriguez def. Ketlen Souza via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
