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Despite not being the strongest pay-per-view line-up on paper, fans still had high hopes for UFC 271 and, for the most part, it delivered.
Sure, UFC 271 was short on violent finishes, with a total of eight fights going the distance, but there was still enough on tap to make the event memorable.
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So, with this in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC 271: Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2.
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#5. Renato Moicano takes full advantage of his late notice UFC main card spot
Earlier in the week, Alexander Hernandez was vocally angry about not being positioned on UFC 271’s main card and, to be honest, his complaints made sense.
He was one of the few Texas natives in action last night. Furthermore, his fight with Renato Moicano sounded better, on paper at least, than the bantamweight tilt between Kyler Phillips and Marcelo Rojo that was initially pegged for a main card slot.
In the end, the UFC changed things up and moved Hernandez vs. Moicano into the higher slot. Unfortunately, it was the Brazilian, not ‘The Great Ape’, who took full advantage of the larger spotlight.
After losing the first round, Moicano began to press forward more to begin the second and, eventually, the approach worked. He hurt Hernandez with a combination, sending him stumbling into the fence. From there, he took him down, took his back, and moments later, slapped on a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
This was a genuinely excellent performance from Moicano. Not only did he come from behind to win, he also defeated an opponent who seemed – on paper at least – to be a tricky match for him.
More to the point, the victory means that his record since moving to 155lbs in 2020 stands at 3-1, with his only loss coming to the highly rated Rafael Fiziev. Essentially, if he’s given the opportunity, he’s an explosive finisher on the ground, and this was more proof of that ability.
#4. Kyler Phillips puts a stamp on his victory over Marcelo Rojo
Kyler Phillips lost out on a main card slot last night. In the end, he proved that he’s still a dark horse in the UFC’s bantamweight division by completely dominating an overmatched foe in Marcelo Rojo.
Phillips was well on his way to a decision victory as the third round of the clash ticked away but, impressively, he was still able to find a way to finish his opponent. While this didn’t net ‘The Matrix’ one of the event’s $50k bonuses, it should definitely hold him in good stead for his next visit to the octagon.
Essentially, Phillips won this bout in all areas, abusing Rojo’s leg with a steady diet of heavy kicks while also marking him up with jabs, too. While Rojo would probably have hoped for an advantage on the ground, that wasn’t the case at all.
‘The Matrix’ was the man who landed the fight’s takedowns. In the final stanza, he made one pay off. He applied an armbar/triangle choke combination to force his Argentine foe to tap out with just over three minutes remaining on the clock.
Quite how high Phillips’ ceiling in the UFC is remains a question mark, as it’s hard to erase the memories of his poor loss to Raulian Paiva last summer. However, if any UFC fighter wants to get to the top, they’ve got to deal with overmatched opponents. ‘The Matrix’ did just that here, in impressive fashion.
#3. Douglas Silva de Andrade produces a classic UFC comeback over Sergey Morozov
UFC 271’s ‘Fight of the Night’ award went to the third bout on the card. Douglas Silva de Andrade produced one of the most stirring comebacks in some time to defeat Sergey Morozov in the second round.
This was an explosive bout from start to finish. After flying out of the blocks, Morozov will probably be wondering quite how he managed to lose.
Despite ‘D’Silva’ showing his trademark aggression, it was Morozov who landed first. He hurt him with a right hand and then dropped the Brazilian with an uppercut in the early going.
From there, after cutting him open badly with some elbows, Morozov continued to land blows. He hurt ‘D’Silva’ over and over before ending the round with a nasty spin kick to the body and more ground-and-pound.
The idea of de Andrade coming back from this felt like a pipe dream. Somehow, he came into the second round fired up, hurt Morozov with an early combination, and then continued to unleash hell despite his Kazakh opponent firing back.
Eventually, ‘D’Silva’ hurt his opponent badly with an elbow. He then threw him to the ground and managed to catch him in a choke variant to leave him completely unconscious.
While this win probably won’t elevate de Andrade back into the top ten at 135lbs, it should be more than enough to keep him on track following a knockout win last October. It was easily enough to earn both he and Morozov an extra $50k.
#2. Jared Cannonier captures a UFC title shot with his knockout of Derek Brunson
Outside of the main event last night, the fight with the highest stakes was undoubtedly Jared Cannonier’s middleweight clash with Derek Brunson. With both men on excellent runs, the winner was always likely to earn a shot at the UFC middleweight title – particularly with a good showing.
In the end, Cannonier came out on top. While it wasn’t a flawless victory, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ should definitely be next in line to face Israel Adesanya after dispatching of Brunson violently.
Early on, it definitely didn’t look like the fight would go that way. Brunson looked like the sharper fighter, and hurt Cannonier twice with big punches. He also took him down and came with a rear-naked choke at the end of the first round.
However, despite starting the second round brightly with another takedown, Brunson appeared to tire dramatically midway through the stanza. Suddenly, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ began to take over, hurting him badly with seemingly every strike that landed, particularly his elbow shots.
The end came as Cannonier secured a takedown following a brutal flurry. He then began to bounce Brunson’s head off the canvas with some genuinely savage elbows. Quite how referee Kerry Hatley didn’t stop this one earlier was anyone’s guess. The fact that Brunson’s corner actually threw in the towel told its own story.
Overall, this was an explosive and violent finish from Cannonier. While nothing he did here suggests that he could beat Adesanya, he definitely did enough to earn his shot at the champ.
#1. Tai Tuivasa weathers the storm to turn the lights out on Derrick Lewis
The fight at UFC 271 that was always the most likely to produce an explosive finish was Derrick Lewis’ meeting with fellow heavyweight slugger Tai Tuivasa. To that degree, the clash certainly met expectations.
The two big men went toe-to-toe from the off. While the fight did slow down at points due to some excessive clinching, for the most part, this brawl lived up to the hype.
The big surprise came in who won, and also the manner of his victory. Most fans figured that whichever fighter landed the big shot first would come out on top. Somehow, Tuivasa was actually able to absorb Lewis’ shots and fire back with heavy blows of his own.
In the second round, those heavy blows paid off. After being wobbled by a big shot from ‘The Black Beast’, ‘Bam Bam’ came back with some punches of his own that left Lewis on wobbly legs.
Lewis attempted to slow things down by clinching. This time, however, Tuivasa met him with a solid elbow to the head. That was enough to switch his lights off instantly, sending him faceplanting to the ground.
Does this win make Tuivasa a title contender? Given his clear limitations it probably shouldn’t. Then again, Lewis only fought for the title two fights ago – meaning ‘Bam Bam’ is likely to end up in the top five at worst come next week.
That alone makes it the biggest victory of his young career by some distance. More to the point, it was easily the most explosive moment from last night’s show.
