Carlos Hernandez dominated Denys Bondar for almost 15 minutes at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 75, then landed a takedown that looked to put Bondar close to out before dropping a vicious barrage of elbows to a bloodied and battered opponent, leading to referee Jerin Valel to stop the bout with just one second left.
But things got testy after the throw was reviewed, and Hernandez’s first UFC finish was suddenly no more — it was instead ruled a clash of heads.
The good news for Hernandez is that the fight then went to the scorecards, where all three judges saw it for the 29-year-old.
Check out video of the brutal final seconds of the flyweight matchup at the APEX.
After an accidental clash of heads, Carlos Hernandez earns the win over Denys Bondar via technical decision at #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/J27pDXTske
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) June 18, 2023
Two judges gave all three rounds to Hernandez, while the third card saw it 29-28 for the victor. With the win, the Contender Series alum improved to 2-1 inside the octagon, and bounced back from a first-round submission loss to Allan Nascimento in his previous outing.
Bondar is now 0-2 in his UFC run after more than a 16-month layoff between appearances.