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The final UFC event of the year is now in the books, and it turned out to be a solid one.
Despite a lack of star power, UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland provided plenty of entertainment and some cool finishes.
So with a number of choices, who produced the best action for the fans?
Here are the five best finishes from UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland.
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#5. Michal Oleksiejczuk defeated Cody Brundage in a UFC middleweight bout
The most one-sided win of the night belonged to Michal Oleksiejczuk. He picked up his second UFC victory at middleweight by destroying Cody Brundage in the first round.
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Early on, it looked like Brundage would have an advantage on the grappling department. He took his Polish opponent down more than once and got full mount too.
However, when Oleksiejczuk reversed and got on top, it didn’t take him long at all to turn the tables.
He opened up with a pretty ruthless series of punches and elbows, and before long, the fight was stopped. In fact, Brundage may have gone unconscious more than once before referee Mark Smith stepped in.
The win was enough to earn Oleksiejczuk a $50k bonus, a surprise considering the quality of some of the finishes last night. Either way, though, it was a strong one, and bodes well for the Pole going forward at 185lbs.
#4. Amir Albazi defeated Alessandro Costa in a UFC flyweight bout
Faced with a late replacement instead of original opponent Brandon Royval, the pressure was on Amir Albazi last night.
The Iraq native cracked the UFC’s flyweight rankings with a win over Francisco Figueiredo - brother of current 125lbs champ Deiveson. Therefore, everyone expected him to dispatch Alessandro Costa with ease.
As it was, Albazi struggled a little more than many fans expected. The Iraqi looked tentative for lengthy stretches of the bout and probably lost the first round.
However, with the minutes ticking away in the third, ‘The Prince’ struck. He nailed Costa with a perfectly timed uppercut to the jaw that dropped him, and wasted no time in finishing him off.
It was the kind of finish that was hard to spot on first viewing, but with a slow-motion replay, it was truly vicious.
It wasn’t enough to earn him a $50k bonus, but it did give him a nice highlight-reel moment, which is what fans expected, really. Hopefully his fight with Royval can now be re-booked for early 2023.
#3. Said Nurmagomedov defeated Saidyokub Kakhramonov in a UFC bantamweight bout
The lone submission win of the night came from bantamweight prospect Said Nurmagomedov, and it came as part of a huge comeback, too.
Remarkably, Nurmagomedov was being thoroughly dominated by opponent Saidyokub Kakhramonov, despite the Uzbek fighter having far less hype around him.
He was able to largely beat Nurmagomedov to the punch, and even took him down on more than one occasion.
It was after one of those takedowns that Nurmagomedov made his comeback, though. After giving up his back, the Dagestani managed to hit a scramble and then found a way to snake his arms around the neck of his opponent.
From there, despite Kakhramonov’s best efforts, Nurmagomedov locked up a guillotine variant known as a ninja choke and forced his opponent to submit.
Quite how this victory didn’t earn Nurmagomedov a $50k bonus is anyone’s guess. However, by extending his octagon record to 6-1, it’s now impossible to overlook him as a title threat heading into 2023.
#2. Drew Dober defeated Bobby Green in a UFC lightweight bout
The best fight on offer last night was definitely the lightweight clash between Drew Dober and Bobby Green. Both men won a $50k bonus for their efforts, but it was Dober who came out on top.
The aggressive striker also did it in violent fashion, switching Green’s lights off in a stunning way in the second round.
Green was getting the better of things before that. ‘King’ showed his usual slick boxing skills and was largely beating Dober to the punch.
However, as per usual with the Colorado-based fighter, he kept coming forward, and eventually his approach paid off dividends.
In the second round, Dober swarmed forward with a combination, and while Green looked defensively good, he kept backing up. This allowed Dober to close in and connect with one vicious left hand that turned Green’s lights out.
Dober has been around the UFC for a long time now and has an impressive record of 12-7-1. However, there’s an argument that this was his best win to date, suggesting that even better might be to come from him.
#1. Alex Caceres defeated Julian Erosa in a UFC featherweight bout
The best finish by far last night was produced by veteran featherweight Alex Caceres. He stopped a tricky opponent in Julian Erosa and did it in wild fashion, too.
The fight was just over three minutes old and had already provided plenty of entertainment when ‘Bruce Leeroy’ struck. He missed with a left hand, but followed with an insane head kick that landed cleanly to Erosa’s face.
‘Juicy J’ went down and out, and while he tried to protest the stoppage, he couldn’t even sit up to do so.
The win was Caceres’ first in the UFC via knockout, and considering his octagon career dates back to 2010, that’s quite something.
He remains one of the most frustratingly inconsistent featherweights on the roster, but he’s always got a big win like this in him. Thankfully, this one was not only the best on offer last night, but it made him $50k richer, too.
