Jackson McVey Stops Wes Schultz With Round 1 TKO in Sacramento
Jackson McVey stopped Wes Schultz by TKO at 4:13 of Round 1 on the UFC Sacramento prelims. The 6-foot-4 middleweight, nicknamed “The Moose,” ended it with a body knee and follow-up punches at Golden 1 Center.
The finish came at UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs. Rodrigues. McVey improved to 8-2 overall and 2-2 in the UFC, while Schultz dropped to 9-4 and 1-2 inside the promotion.
Officially, the result was a TKO by a knee to the body and punches. Referee Jason Herzog stepped in after Schultz folded and ate hammerfists on the canvas.
The graphic told the rest of the story in volume. McVey landed 40 of 80 total strikes and 38 of 78 significant strikes, compared with 28 of 48 and 24 of 43 for Schultz.
McVey also scored the fight’s only knockdown. Schultz completed the only takedown, going 1-for-1, and held the only submission attempt.
That grappling burst came immediately. Schultz opened with a combination and a spinning backfist, then dragged the fight into the clinch and attacked a guillotine as McVey scrambled to free his head.
McVey escaped and began winning the standing fight on pace. He jabbed, mixed punches to the head and body, and started finding the midsection before the finish presented itself.
A knee put Schultz on the back foot first. Schultz recovered long enough to delay the end, then McVey stepped in with a heavier knee to the solar plexus that ended the night.
Herzog had seen enough at 4:13. The stoppage kept McVey’s career-long pattern intact: every one of his eight professional wins has now ended before the judges scored a round.
He is 27, fights southpaw, and lists a 77-inch reach. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native trains at The MMA Lab and has made a habit of finishing fights in the first round.
Saturday’s TKO was his eighth first-round win as a pro. Four of those victories have come by knockout or TKO, and four have come by submission.
The pairing also closed an old account. Schultz submitted McVey by armbar as amateurs in 2020, a loss that had been McVey’s only defeat before he turned pro.
This was the first time they met as professionals. Schultz, 30, out of Madison, Wisconsin, and Pura Vida BJJ, had the early grappling success again, then could not keep McVey from taking over on the feet.
Schultz entered on a rebound of his own. He submitted Ben Johnston in the third round at UFC Perth in May after a first-round knockout loss to Djorden Pinas in February.
McVey was coming off a first-round D’Arce choke of Sedriques Dumas on April 25. That win snapped a two-fight UFC skid that started with an armbar loss to Brunno Ferreira at UFC 318 and a rear-naked choke defeat to Zach Reese last November.
Two UFC wins in a row now give him a foothold at 185 pounds. He is still unranked in a middleweight division headed by champion Sean Strickland, but the finish rate is the calling card.
The Jackson McVey TKO also fit the under 1.5-rounds betting profile that followed him into Sacramento. He has not needed 15 minutes at any point in his professional career.
For McVey, the immediate picture is a two-fight winning streak, a first-round body-knee finish, and a 2-2 UFC record built entirely on early endings.