Tim Boetsch apparently enjoys the bright lights of the big city.
The Lincolnville native made the most of his Madison Square Garden debut Saturday night, scoring a decisive first-round technical knockout of Rafael Natal on the undercard of UFC 205, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first show in New York City since that state legalized professional mixed martial arts in April.
The 35-year-old Boetsch, making his 20th career appearance in the UFC octagon, backed up his Brazilian-born opponent and then landed a straight right hand flush to the jaw. Natal went down immediately, and Boetsch connected on a handful of follow-up strikes to prompt referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the middleweight bout at 3:22 of the first round.
“He went down pretty hard,” Boetsch told Fox Sports 1 announcer Joe Rogan during a post-fight interview. “I think the cage slowed him down a little bit. He wasn’t able to get that distance like he did earlier and I put it right on the button where I wanted it and finished him off.”
The win improves Boetsch’s record to 20-10 overall, 11-9 in UFC bouts since he made his debut for the promotion with a first-round TKO of David Heath at UFC 81 in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 2, 2008.
Natal (21-8-1) was ranked 14th among UFC middleweights entering the fight, and Boetsch now is likely to re-enter the rankings for the first time since he was among the top five in the middleweight division in 2012 and 2013 after back-to-back victories over Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard.
“I think it’s because of my coach, ‘The Irish Hand Grenade,’ maybe that had something to do with it,” joked Boetsch, referring both to his trainer, former Bangor resident and one-time UFC contender Marcus Davis, and the sellout crowd on hand at MSG to watch the UFC 205 main event between Irish superstar Conor McGregor and lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
“It was my 20th fight with the UFC and finally I feel like that sword’s getting nice and sharp so I’m ready to see what I can do with it in here and see how far I can go,” Boetsch added.
Coming off a second-round TKO of Josh Samman in his most recent fight last July, Boetsch started quickly against the 33-year-old Natal, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
It was an early, under-the-radar right hand by Boetsch that set the tone for the scheduled three-round fight, as it cut Natal’s left eyebrow and left him bleeding down the side of his face.
“The crowd didn’t go crazy or anything, it was kind of a hidden punch,” said Boetsch. “But it landed solid and I could see in his eyes that he didn’t want too many more of those.”
Boetsch continued to control the center of the octagon, keeping Natal on the defensive with frequent low kicks and powerful strikes.
Boetsch eventually landed a right hand to put Natal on his heels and followed with a forearm that forced his opponent back toward the octagon wall. That put the former four-time state wrestling champion from Camden-Rockport High School in position to land his decisive right hand.
“I was taking my time, looking to pick my shots and be patient,” said Boetsch, who now lives in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. “I knew I’d get another one.”
