Marcus McGhee stops Anthony Romero in Round 1 at UFC 332

Marcus McGhee needed almost every second of the opening round to get it done. The bantamweight beat Anthony Romero by first-round TKO at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, with the stoppage coming at 4:58, just two seconds before the bell.

The finish ended Romero's unbeaten run and handed McGhee a statement win on a stacked card.

McGhee, the veteran

McGhee, nicknamed "The Maniac," is 36 and fights out of MMA Lab. He now owns a 10-2 record and sits at number 15 in the bantamweight rankings. The American is an orthodox striker who lands 5.5 significant strikes per minute at 45 percent accuracy. He stands five-foot-eight with a 69-inch reach, giving up little in the way of physical dimensions to his opponent. Takedowns are not a major part of his game, averaging 0.31 per 15 minutes, which makes a pure striking finish a fitting way to win.

Romero, the unbeaten prospect

Romero, known as "The Genius," entered the cage 8-0 at age 29. The American trains at Blackhouse MMA and also fights orthodox. He is the slightly taller man at five-foot-eleven, with a 70-inch reach. His numbers show a busy and accurate striker, landing 5.87 significant strikes per minute at 52 percent accuracy, along with two takedown attempts per 15 minutes. He has not attempted submissions at a meaningful rate. The loss is the first of his professional career.

Why it matters

• McGhee, already ranked 15th at bantamweight, adds a first-round stoppage over an unbeaten opponent to his résumé, a result that can only help his standing in the division's lower tier.
• The 36-year-old veteran showed he can still end fights against younger, undefeated competition.
• Romero's first defeat will test the 29-year-old, who now faces the task of rebuilding after his perfect record fell.
• The finish was a close call on the clock: another two seconds and the round would have gone to the scorecards' next frame.