Thomas Petersen pulled off a thrilling buzzer-beating stoppage of Gabriel Lorenco to avoid a draw.
The lone heavyweight fight on the prelims of UFC Fight Night 293 saw Lorenco (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) make his promotional debut, but it did not go as he had hoped. Petersen (12-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) weathered a few scary moments to rally back for a late TKO finish at 4:47 of Round 3.
In the first round, Petersen got the fight to the mat early on – exactly where he wanted. However, Lorenco reversed position and began unleashing heavy strikes, including a questionably-legal knee to the head and neck area of the grounded Petersen. The fight continued on, and Lorenco kept blasting Petersen with heavy punches until the round concluded.
Petersen was hurt, but at the
start of Round 2, he landed a momentum-changing shot. Peterson dropped Lorenco with a punch and nearly finished the fight with follow-up ground-and-pound, but the referee didn't see enough, as he allowed Lorenco a chance to survive the moment – which he did.
With both fighters having near-finishing moments, fatigue was a major factor entering the final round.
Petersen managed to get the fight to the ground, and after controlling from top position for a majority of the round. As he worked right in front of his corner, "The Train" postured up with little time on the clock and rained down punches until the ref stopped the fight with just 13 seconds remaining.
Check out video of the stoppage below (via X):
THOMAS PETERSEN GOES ALL OUT FOR THE FINISH 😤
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) November 8, 2026
[ #UFCVegas124 | LIVE on @paramountplus ] pic.twitter.com/TSUBFsiofU
Two of the official judges scored Round 1 as a 10-8 in Lorenco's favor. Had Petersen not finished the fight, it was likely heading for a majority draw.
The result keeps Petersen's recent trend of trading wins and losses alive, as he rebounds from a first-round finish against Valter Walker in July.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 293 results:
- Thomas Petersen def. Gabriel Lorenco via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:47
- Karine Silva def. Gabriella Fernandes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Murtazali Magomedov def. Jose Delano via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Austin Bashi def. Carlos Calderon via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:07
- Andre Petroski def. Mantas Kondratavicius via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:39
- Seokhyeon Ko def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jose Souza def. Jonny Parsons via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:16
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 124 video: Thomas Petersen avoids draw with late TKO finish
