Edgar Berlanga survives knockdown, stops Butler in Zuffa debut

Edgar Berlanga shook off a second-round knockdown to stop Steven Butler in the seventh round at Zuffa Boxing 9 on Sunday night inside the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The 168-pound headliner turned into an immediate slugfest. Butler clipped Berlanga in the second round and dropped him to the canvas, but both fighters continued trading heavy leather through the opening half of the fight. Berlanga began finding his range and landing cleaner punches as the rounds wore on, according to MMA Mania.

Berlanga comeback TKO caps Zuffa Boxing 9

The finish came in round seven when Berlanga connected on a four-punch combination that hurt Butler badly enough for the referee to step in and wave off the fight. The official nearly fell out of the ring while holding Butler upright during the stoppage, per the report.

Berlanga rebounds from a knockout loss to Hamzah Sheeraz a year ago. In the co-main event, Richardson Hitchins outpointed Ricardo Salas at welterweight to move to 22-0. Both Berlanga and Hitchins signed with Zuffa Boxing earlier this year and made their promotional debuts on the same card.

Other notable results included Jalil Hackett's decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko at middleweight and Vladyslav Sirenko's tenth-round knockout of Otto Wallin in the heavyweight division.

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• MMA Mania — Highlights! Edgar Berlanga survives early knockdown, earns vicious TKO win in all-out war | Zuffa Boxing 9