Rayo Valenzuela avenges 2022 loss with a brutal second-round knockout of De Los Santos

Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela got his revenge, and he got it in spectacular fashion.

Nearly four years after falling to a TKO loss against Edwin De Los Santos on September 4, 2022, the two were paired together again on Sunday night in the main event of the Zuffa 08 card, this time under the UFC and TKO's boxing promotion. Valenzuela made it clear in the opening minutes that he had not forgotten what happened the first time around, and by the time the night was over, he had completely flipped the script.

The first round started fast, with De Los Santos throwing heavy leather and looking sharp on both ends, offensively and defensively. But Valenzuela was patient, waiting for his opening. He found it in the final ten seconds of the round, landing two nearly identical left hands, shots that looked like overhand lefts more than straight punches, that buckled De Los Santos and had him in trouble right as the bell rang to save him.

It was the kind of finish to a round that sends a message, and Valenzuela made sure De Los Santos felt it.

Round two started the same way round one ended, with Valenzuela in control. It did not take long for him to find De Los Santos again. A right hook landed early and shook De Los Santos, but this time it was clear that Valenzuela had his man on a string.

What followed was calculated, patient violence. Valenzuela did not rush. He worked behind his jab, picked his shots, and let De Los Santos throw back, almost daring him to. De Los Santos obliged, firing off desperate bombs trying to change the fight’s direction, but Valenzuela slipped through with the kind of poise that comes from a fighter who has lived in this exact moment before and knows exactly how it ends.

Then it came. That same setup punch, the right hook that had softened De Los Santos earlier in the round, landed clean on the chin, and this time there was no recovering. 

De Los Santos went down hard, folding to the canvas instantly. Referee Thomas Taylor did not need to think twice. He waved it off, but really, the count told the story on its own. De Los Santos had nothing left in the tank. It took a slow, careful effort from his corner just to get him back to his feet.

Official time: 2:05 of round two.

It was a definitive answer to the only question that mattered going in. Could Valenzuela do what he could not do back in 2022? Tonight, emphatically, he could.

Speaking with Max Kellerman after the fight, Valenzuela reflected on how far he has come since that first meeting. He explained that he was still essentially a kid back then, and that growth and improvement were always part of the plan. When asked what it felt like to be the one who finally stopped his old rival, Valenzuela did not hesitate, calling it one of the best feelings in the world.

He also broke down exactly what changed between the two fights. He pointed to the left hand that rocked De Los Santos at the end of round one as the moment he knew the finish was coming. He said he recognized he had hurt him in the first round and trusted he could close the show in the second, and he was right.

With the win banked, Valenzuela wasted no time looking ahead. He named Shakur Stevenson as the fight he wants next, framing himself as the matchup Stevenson should fear. He also made the case that his win over Pitbull Cruz outweighs Stevenson’s win over William Zepeda, a direct shot meant to get the bigger names in the division talking.