5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze

#2. Abdul Razak Alhassan lands a brutal head kick KO in less than 30 seconds

Abdul Razak Alhassan's head kick knockout of Alessio Di Chirico was phenomenal

The most explosive finish at UFC Vegas 35, from an esthetic standpoint, was Abdul Razak Alhassan’s head kick knockout of Alessio Di Chirico.

The middleweight clash was only put together when both fighters saw their original opponents withdraw. Despite moving up from his usual 170lbs, it was clear that Alhassan didn’t come to mess around.

He came forward in the opening seconds, shrugged off a kick attempt from Di Chirico – and then practically decapitated the Italian with a head kick.

OH MY GOODNESS! #UFCVegas35 live on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/1dwTFzTfwV

— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2021

It was a truly brutal knockout. Thankfully, Alhassan realised that his opponent was completely unconscious and didn’t even attempt to follow up with more strikes.

‘Judo Thunder’ may not ever break into UFC title contention, but he’s a ruthless and explosive finisher. Brutal stoppages like this one – the third win of his UFC career to be finished in under a minute – mean that there’ll always be a place for him in the promotion.

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#1. Giga Chikadze breaks into the UFC's elite level with his TKO win over Edson Barboza

After his win over Edson Barboza, Giga Chikadze must be considered a UFC featherweight title contender

Alhassan’s finish was the most explosive of the night. However, the most impressive was Giga Chikadze’s stoppage of Edson Barboza in the main event.

Chikadze didn’t finish the Brazilian with one clean blow – it was more of an accumulation of strikes – but that didn’t make it any less brutal.

The fight reached the third round and was largely even through the first two. In the third, though, Chikadze began to turn up the heat – hurting Barboza with a big right hand.

With the Brazilian clearly on the back foot, the native of Georgia simply didn’t let up. He walked him down and dropped him with a barrage of strikes.

From there he attempted a D’Arce choke. When it didn’t come off, it looked like he may have lost his chance at a finish. That thought was premature, however.

Instead, ‘The Ninja’ simply continued to open up with violence, eventually dropping Barboza a second time. That was enough for referee Jason Herzog to step in – handing the Brazilian just his third loss via strikes in his decade-long UFC career.

GIGA CHIKADZE! WHAT A PERFORMANCE! @Giga_Chikadze#UFCVegas35 pic.twitter.com/pMMAQPNh0i

— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2021

Based on this showing, Chikadze is almost certainly a genuine UFC title contender at 145lbs. While he might not get Max Holloway as he requested last night, he ought to be given a top five opponent at least. At any rate, this was a phenomenal finish from a phenomenal UFC fighter.