Former Strikeforce champion Tarec (Sponge) Saffiedine went down by TKO on Saturday during the third round of a televised UFC Fight Night card. The event was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hometown hero, Canadian Rory (Ares) MacDonald clipped Saffiedine with “a shot to the back of the head and then put him down with another punch,” before the referee stepped in. The Canadian Press reported Saffiedine was “left dazed and bloody on the canvas.”
More than 10,000 fans packed into Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre to be a part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first visit to Atlantic Canada. “I was just going with the flow… I wasn’t trying to force anything and it worked out,” said McDonald, a 4-1 favorite.