Rodrigo Vera made the most of his second UFC opportunity. Vera (22-1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) impressed in his octagon debut when he knocked out Kangjie Zhu (21-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a counter left and array of right hands at the 1:50 mark of Round 1 on Saturday's prelims at UFC Fight Night 277 at Galaxy Macau in China.

The former RIZIN champion moved back up to 135 pounds—the weight class in which he reigned during his time in the Japanese promotion—and was in vintage form Saturday at UFC Macau as he picked up his first octagon victory with a stunning first-round knockout over Cameron Smotherman.