UFC 206 results: Lando Vannata wastes John Makdessi with 'KO of Year' candidate head kick

TORONTO – As soon as Lando Vannata’s kick landed on John Makdessi’s chin, the fight was over.

All that was left was for Makdessi (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) to pitch backward like a felled tree, and for Vannata (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to stroll nonchalantly away, secure in the knowledge that he’d just won a knockout victory just 100 seconds into his second UFC fight.

The bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 206 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS1 and a main card on pay-per-view.

For Vannata, the finishing blow came as part of a picture-perfect striking sequence. After a brief feeling-out period to open the bout, Vannata walked Makdessi toward the fence, touched his lead leg with one foot, then spun into a wheel kick with the other, slamming his heel home on the unguarded chin of Makdessi.

After that, it was all over but the formalities. Makdessi tilted back and fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious before he landed. Vannata stood calmly by and watched him, as if fully aware that there was no need to rush in and finish the man off. Makdessi’s motionless form on the mat confirmed that hypothesis, and with that the fight was over at the 1:40 mark of Round 1.

“I practiced that kick about 2,000 times in camp and I knew it was going to work,” Vannata said. “I was planning on using it and I knew he couldn’t stop it. I expected it to be successful. I’m ready for whoever they want to give me next.”

With that, Vannata gets his first win in the UFC after an unsuccessful debut in which he turned in an unexpectedly strong performance in a losing effort against Tony Ferguson in July. Makdessi has now lost three of his last four.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 206 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Dann Stupp and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Toronto.)