LAS VEGAS – Marco Tulio beat Ihor Potieria with a first-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Struggle Evening 249 on the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Have a look contained in the struggle with Tulio, whose UFC debut included 20 % of Potieria’s purse after Potieria missed weight.
Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria
Consequence: Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria by way of TKO (punches) – Spherical 1, 3:04
Up to date data: Tulio (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Potieria (20-8 MMA, 2-6 UFC) (KO1)
Key stats: Tulio by no means let Potieria get began and outstruck him 34-6 en path to the end – which got here moments after a restart for a Tulio low blow.
Tulio on the struggle’s key second

Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria, UFC Struggle Evening 249 (by way of UFC)
“Fights go many various methods. Many issues develop. You’ve acquired to be actually on and actually alert and conscious. The chance got here up. I took benefit of the chance. We knew what he was bringing to the desk, knew how he moved in. I understand how he approached and the way he takes punches and strikes everytime you are available. It’s human chess, and I principally was capable of put the items collectively and – checkmate, I assume.”
Tulio on Potieria’s weight miss
“I ready loads for this. I used to be prepared for something. Truly, it made me happier as a result of I took a chew out of that purse. So some individuals’s tears, different individuals’s smiles. I don’t know what goes into somebody (head once they miss weight). Perhaps it performed an element into that. I don’t know the way his head was, however I do know the place my head area was and I got here in for a struggle within the preparation for this struggle.”
Tulio on what he desires subsequent

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 11: (R-L) Marco Tulio of Brazil punches Ihor Potieria of Ukraine in a middleweight struggle through the UFC Struggle Evening occasion at UFC APEX on January 11, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC by way of Getty Pictures)
“I need to return house and hug my dad and mom as a result of I used to be within the health club up till like 11:35 on New Yr’s Eve. This took loads. I do practice removed from them, so I need to return house and simply give them a hug and as quickly as attainable, return into the cage and begin once more. After all, combating at house, combating in entrance of household, it’s at all times superb to struggle in entrance of everybody in Brazil. However I’m going to go away that to the fingers of my supervisor. He’ll inform us what to do.”
To listen to extra from Tulio, take a look at the video of the complete post-fight interview above.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Struggle Evening 249.
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