Rong Zhu Wins Fourth Straight With Decision Over Rafa Garcia
Rong Zhu kept his lightweight streak alive the hard way at Noche UFC. All three judges scored the fight 29-28, and the Chinese striker had his hand raised after 15 minutes against Mexico’s Rafa Garcia at Desert Diamond Arena.
“All three judges scored this contest 29-28 for the winner,” the announcer said before the referee lifted Zhu’s arm. Garcia stood in green shorts with blood on his face. Zhu shouted once the decision landed.
The official graphic listed Garcia at 19-5 and Zhu at 29-6 after the final bell. MMA Junkie’s post-fight records put Zhu at 5-3 inside the UFC and Garcia at 7-5. The win is Zhu’s fourth in a row.
It was not a robbery on volume. Zhu out-landed Garcia 109 to 73 in significant strikes and 110 to 77 overall. Garcia went 1 for 9 on takedowns. Zhu did not attempt one. Neither man scored a knockdown or a submission try.
Garcia needed a finish in the third if the first two rounds were gone. He pressed, caught a kick, and found the fence. Zhu broke off, answered with cleaner combinations, and closed the round with the sharper shots. Live scoring from the arena had Zhu taking that last five minutes as well.
Both men walked in hot. Garcia had beaten Alexander Hernandez by decision in April and Jared Gordon by TKO at last year’s Noche card. Zhu had stacked wins through Road to UFC and the UFC roster and arrived as the man the caption called a four-fight streak. One of those streaks ended in Glendale.
Garcia is 32, out of Mexicali, and fights as Gifted. Zhu is 26, fights out of China, and carries the Yama King nickname. The Mexican Independence Day crowd had a home lightweight on the prelims. The judges still gave the visitor every close round.
Noche UFC’s early results already had Regina Tarin and Sean King III in the win column. Zhu’s decision added another finished prelim to a Paramount+ afternoon that kept moving toward the main card.
A 29-28 sweep means the fight was competitive enough to argue and clear enough to call. Zhu threw more, landed more, and stuffed the wrestling that was supposed to be Garcia’s path. Four in a row now sits on the Chinese lightweight’s record, and the next lightweight booking will have to account for a man who just won a hard Noche fight on points.