Written by Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Steven Nguyen set a record with his win while Mohammad Yahya is going to need a lot of ice and potentially surgery after suffering a gruesome eye injury in defeat at UFC Abu Dhabi.
From the start of the fight, Nguyen was just teeing off on Yahha with fast, powerful combinations that basically went unblocked. Yahya was getting blasted with shots and repeatedly taken off his feet, especially when he kept throwing an ill-fated jumping knee that got countered every single time.
Nguyen put him down over and over again and by the time the second round ended, he scored seven knockdowns setting a new record in UFC history for the most in any one fight.
STEVEN NGUYEN GETS THE WIN BY DOCTOR’S STOPPAGE AFTER SETTING A UFC RECORD SIX KNOCKDOWNS AT #UFCABUDHABI pic.twitter.com/i8DPfrvLYa
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 26, 2025
As for Yahya, he went back to his corner after the second round with one of the most stomach churning eye injuries in recent memory. The swelling was immense and it didn’t take long for referee Jason Herzog to step in and call off the fight before the doctor could even make that call.
The official stoppage is a TKO win for Nguyen at 5:00 in the second round.
“I’ve been working so hard for this moment. It’s finally here,” Nguyen said afterwards. “The fight’s not over until it’s over. I came into UFC 0-1 and I come back and I wanted that finish. Here we are now.”
It was a strong performance from Nguyen, although credit to Yahya for sticking around far longer than it first appeared possible. In fact, Yahya actually cracked Nguyen with a solid shot at the start of the second round that had his opponent wobbled.
The success was short lived with Nguyen taking over again just moments later but Yahya showed he’s got a ton of heart and toughness, although sometimes that pays off in negative ways. He goes home with a loss on his record and some recovery time coming for that eye injury.