5 most explosive moments from UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira

#2. Islam Makhachev attempts to remove Dan Hooker’s arm from his body

Islam Makhachev's kimura submission of Dan Hooker was eye-wateringly brutal

Submission wins aren’t always considered to explosive in the UFC. They’re more of a thing of beauty, particularly when they’re done in the slick fashion usually preferred by Islam Makhachev.

Last night, however, Makhachev went down a different path – and submitted Dan Hooker with a kimura that was so brutal it made ‘The Hangman’ cry out in agony.

Hooker was supposed to provide Makhachev with his toughest test to date. A battle-hardened veteran, ‘The Hangman’ had survived some horrendous moments against the likes of Paul Felder and Edson Barboza.

When Makhachev took him down in the early going of last night’s clash though, it quickly became clear that he was miles out of his depth with the Dagestani on the ground. Sure enough, Makhachev began to work him over with strikes – and when he had the opportunity, he locked up a kimura on the right arm.

Hooker attempted to fight the hold off – only for Makhachev to advance to side mount, step over his head, and then attempt to detach the arm from the Kiwi’s body.

Unable to tap out due to his left arm being behind his waist, Hooker’s cry of pain was the signal used by referee Dan Movahedi to stop the fight. While ‘The Hangman’ attempted to protest, it was painfully clear that he was done.

This was probably Makhachev’s most impressive showing so far – and was definitely his most explosive finish. It may well end up netting him a UFC title shot in the near future, too.

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#1. Khamzat Chimaev returns to the UFC with a bang and takes out Li Jingliang

Khamzat Chimaev choked Li Jingliang unconscious in his return to the octagon

After struggling with COVID-19 to the point that he announced his retirement at one point, many fans wondered exactly what Khamzat Chimaev would bring in his return to the UFC.

The Chechnyan had garnered the most hype since Conor McGregor following his first three octagon wins in 2020, but last night was clearly his toughest test to date. Unlike his previous three opponents, Li Jingliang was a highly touted, top-fifteen ranked fighter with some big wins to his name.

Incredibly, even ‘The Leech’ was unable to do a thing to Chimaev en route to a one-sided loss. The Chinese fighter didn’t even land a strike on ‘Borz’ before he was taken out in the first round.

Chimaev’s win came via submission, but it was explosive all the same. ‘Borz’ grabbed Jingliang in the fight’s early moments and from there, he simply manhandled him. He lifted him into the air and walked him towards UFC president Dana White – who he then spoke to while slamming ‘The Leech’ down.

From there, Chimaev beat Jingliang down and then choked him unconscious, all in just over three minutes. It was a truly eye-opening performance that showed exactly why there’s so much hype around him.

Sure, this wasn’t a brutal knockout like Lerone Murphy’s, but it was clearly the most explosive and outstanding moment on what was one of the best UFC events in recent memory.