Peruvian prospect Rodrigo Vera announced his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in emphatic fashion this morning (Sat., May 30, 2026), knocking out Road To UFC (RTU) contract winner Zhu Kangjie in less than two minutes on the UFC Macau preliminary card inside Galaxy Arena in Macau, SRA, China.
Both fighters came out aggressively looking to make a statement in their Octagon debuts, but it was Vera who landed the cleaner and more meaningful shots. Just under two minutes into the fight,
Vera timed a beautiful counter left hook that crashed into Kangjie’s chin and immediately put the Chinese prospect in trouble.
Vera quickly swarmed with follow-up punches, forcing the referee to jump in and wave off the contest.
Watch the violent finish below:
The victory improves Vera’s record to 22-1-1 and extends his winning streak to an incredible 14 fights.
“El Gato Loco” has been chasing a UFC opportunity for years. In fact, Vera was selected to participate in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter but never got the chance to compete after going unselected by the coaching staffs and being sent home before the tournament began.
Fortunately for him, a short-notice opportunity opened up on the UFC Macau card, and he made the most of it.
The 29-year-old has now not tasted defeat since 2019 and immediately put himself on the radar in the Bantamweight division.
As for Kangjie (21-5), the loss snaps his five-fight winning streak and spoils his UFC debut in front of a hometown crowd. The Chinese prospect earned his UFC contract by winning Season 4 of Road To UFC and entered the bout with plenty of momentum, but Vera proved to be a much tougher assignment than expected.
For complete UFC Macau results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.
