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Despite not featuring a title fight at the top of the card, it’s safe to say that last night’s UFC Fight Night was one of the best events of 2022 thus far. There’s an argument, in fact, that UFC Fight Night: Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall might have been one of the most memorable Fight Night shows of all time.
With a total of nine finishes – and just three bouts going the distance – there was some genuinely explosive stuff on offer. That was made even better by an absolutely raucous crowd.
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On that note, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall.
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#5. Sergei Pavlovich returns to UFC with a bang, stops Shamil Abdurakhimov
Probably because it didn’t involve a UK favourite, the heavyweight clash between Sergei Pavlovich and Shamil Abdurakhimov flew largely under the radar last night. However, after claiming a $50K bonus for a truly brutal finish, it’s difficult not to be excited about Pavlovich after his explosive performance.
The fight didn’t last long overall. Pavlovich was clearly lighter on his feet than his Dagestani opponent. While the two men exchanged from the off, it seemed only a matter of time before Pavlovich would land a bomb.
Sure enough, with about a minute or so to go in the opening round, he lunged in. Pavlovich caught Abdurakhimov with a vicious shovel uppercut, ala Tim Sylvia’s famous knockdown of Andrei Arlovski in 2006.
Abdurakhimov was sent sprawling to the ground. While he attempted to recover, Pavlovich wasted no time, opening up with some huge bombs to the head to seal his victory, smashing him until the Dagestani could do nothing but cover up.
When you consider that Pavlovich hadn’t fought since 2019, it was difficult not to be impressed by the Russian’s explosive showing. He should make his way into the top ten at heavyweight by next week, and the sky could well be the limit for him there.
#4. Paddy Pimblett blows the roof off O2 Arena with his second UFC win
Last night’s event featured a total of four submission wins. With no disrespect to Tom Aspinall, Paul Craig and Makwan Amirkhani, the most explosive finish came from breakout star Paddy Pimblett. That was largely because he literally blew the roof off the arena with his win.
Faced with the largely unheralded Kazula Vargas, ‘The Baddy’ was heavily favored to win. However, like on his UFC debut against Luigi Vendramini, he didn’t exactly make it easy.
After exchanging blows with the Mexican early on in the fight, Pimblett appeared to be stunned, finding himself in bottom position at one point. However, he didn’t take long to recover, and once he found his rhythm, the fight was largely over.
‘The Baddy’ surprised Vargas with a beautiful hip throw. Once the lightweight hit the deck, he wasted no time in spinning around to take the Mexican’s back. From there, the Liverpool native quickly locked up a rear naked choke, forcing Vargas to tap out moments later, sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
If he’s to make it to the top of the promotion, there can be no doubt Pimblett will face tougher opponents. Nevertheless, this was another exciting, explosive performance from him, and it’s difficult not to perceive him as a star at this point.
#3. Ilia Topuria ends Jai Herbert in brutal fashion
After his confrontation with Paddy Pimblett in the week building up to last night’s event, there was more spotlight on lightweight prospect Ilia Topuria than ever before. Thankfully for ‘El Matador’, he delivered the goods in absolutely devastating fashion.
Early on, it didn’t look like things would go well for him. Despite Jai Herbert probably not being as heralded as either Ryan Hall or Youssef Zalal – who had previously fallen to Topuria – he had the Georgian in big trouble early on.
Herbert dropped Topuria in the opening minute with a glancing head kick. He then rocked Topuria badly again later in the stanza, even knocking his mouthpiece out at one point.
It looked like ‘El Matador’ was on his way to losing. However, early in the second round, he turned things on their head. Topuria cracked Herbert with a sickening three-punch combination that knocked him silly, allowing him to walk away rather than follow up once he noticed that his foe was unconscious.
Will the win be enough to net him a meeting with Pimblett in the octagon? Who knows. However, the fact that ‘El Matador’ now finds himself $50K richer thanks to this brutal performance should be enough to make him a very happy man.
#2. Arnold Allen breaks onto big stage with violent stoppage of Dan Hooker
Despite riding a lengthy eight-fight win streak in the UFC leading into last night’s show, #7 ranked featherweight Arnold Allen still seemed to be flying under the radar. The main reason appeared to be his lack of explosive finishes.
‘Almighty’ changed that last night, putting on the best performance of his career. He took out former lightweight contender Dan Hooker in just over two and a half minutes with a salvo of violent strikes.
Hooker, who has always been renowned for his toughness and durability at 155 lbs, seemed happy to exchange with Allen from the off. However, that soon proved to be undoing.
A combination from ‘Almighty’ had ‘The Hangman’ stunned in the early going. While the New Zealand native didn’t hit the ground, it was clear he was in serious trouble. Hooker attempted to back up, but Allen simply didn’t let up.
He continued to bomb on his opponent, opening up with more and more strikes at a seemingly quicker clip. Eventually, Hooker stumbled back to the fence, forcing referee Dan Movahedi to rescue him.
To say that nobody really expected a finish like this from Allen would be an understatement, making his performance even more effective. He’s a genuine title contender at 145lbs, and this explosive UFC knockout should guarantee him a big fight next time out.
#1. Molly McCann scores UFC’s fourth spinning elbow knockout in memorable fashion
Molly McCann's win was probably overshadowed by the victories of Tom Aspinall, Arnold Allen and Paddy Pimblett. However, it's safe to say that the most explosive finish last night – maybe the most explosive of 2022 thus far – was produced by McCann.
The Liverpool-based flyweight has been with the UFC since 2018. Despite running up a solid record of 4-2, she’d never been able to put an opponent away in the octagon, going to decision on six straight occasions.
That changed last night, though. Seemingly buoyed by the hot crowd, who were firmly in her favor, ‘Meatball’ came out more aggressively than ever before, chasing down her opponent Luana Carolina with a violent striking assault.
The Brazilian survived the first two rounds – and McCann appeared to be slowing down. It looked like the Liverpool favorite would go the distance once again. However, that wasn’t to be the case.
The third round saw Carolina begin to push forward a little more. When ‘Dread’ left herself open after throwing a combo, McCann countered with a vicious spinning back elbow that knocked her silly. Carolina was unconscious before she hit the ground as ‘Meatball’ picked up her first octagon finish.
Whether or not she can follow this up with something even better down the line is a question mark, but to be quite frank, who cares? Whatever happens to McCann in her UFC career now, she’ll always have this knockout in London.
