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Kline opened UFC on ESPN 70 with highlight-reel head-kick KO win over Melissa Martinez
Fatima Kline met the media Saturday after her third-round TKO win over Melissa Martinez at UFC on ESPN 70.
Kline (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card against Martinez (8-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and kept after the finish until she ended things midway through the final round at UFC on ESPN 70 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., with a massive head kick.
To top things off, the finish came on the strawweight’s 25th birthday – and came with a pretty solid present, too, in the form of her first $50,000 performance bonus. Kline said she wasn’t content just riding out a decision win.
“I think I heard two and a half minutes (left in the fight) – I knew that the round was coming to a close,” Kline told UFC.com after the win. “I knew I was better than that, to let it go to a decision. I don’t want to be a decisioner. I want to be a finisher.
“I felt like she was hesitating a lot and she was worried about my jab. … I knew if I faked the jab enough and set up that kick, that it was going to land – and that’s exactly what happened.”
Kline, a 25-year-old former CFFC strawweight champion, said she wants to continue to take on stiff tests to climb into the rankings. Her win over Martinez had her as upwards of a 10-1 betting favorite heading into the fight.
After a loss to Jasmine Jasudavicius in her promotional debut a year ago to the weekend of her win over Martinez, she knocked out Victoria Dudakova earlier this year. With two wins and two finishes in a row, she’s shooting her shot.
“I want a top 15 (opponent). That’s two dominant finishes in a row, so anybody in the top 15, I’ll take,” Kline said. “(Madison Square Garden in New York) is in November. That’s my home state. I’m a New York native. I’ve always been there and I’ll always stay. So I want MSG, I want top 15, and I want $50 grand for my birthday.”
Check out Kline’s post-fight interview in the video below.
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