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There wasn’t much fanfare around UFC Fight Night: Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland. However, the dull main event aside, the show delivered some excellent action.
This UFC Fight Night featured many flashy finishes and one of the better fights in recent memory. That means fans had at least their fill by the time the headliner took place.
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Nobody is going to be talking about that headliner today. That means it was a missed opportunity for the two fighters involved, but in MMA, these things happen.
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On that note, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland.
#5. Jailton Almeida shines on his UFC debut
The UFC’s light heavyweight division currently houses many strong prospects, many of whom have now moved into genuine title contention. After last night, fans might be able to add Brazil’s Jailton Almeida to that list.
‘Malhadinho’ earned his opportunity in the octagon with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series. With a record of 14-2, with none of his wins going the distance, he definitely looked like a fighter to watch.
He wasted no time in proving his credentials last night, destroying his countryman Danilo Marques inside a round, basically dominating every facet of the game.
Almeida was able to get hold of Marques in the early moments of the fight before elevating him for a nice slam takedown. From there, he was able to advance to mount, take the back and hammer his foe with punches till referee Mike Beltran was forced to step in.
Essentially, this looked like your prototypical ‘Gracies in action’ fight from the early 1990s. It was made even more impressive by the fact that Marques isn’t a bad fighter in his own right, with a record of 11-3 coming into the fight.
Only time will tell how far Almeida can progress in what is a very fascinating division right now. However, based on this explosive showing, it’ll be fun to see how he fares.
#4. John Castaneda finishes Miles Johns to move to 2-1 in the UFC
John Castaneda came into his UFC bantamweight clash with Miles Johns as an underdog last night. However, it didn’t take long for ‘Sexi Mexi’ to flip the script. He picked up an impressive third-round win, taking his overall UFC record to 2-1.
The fight looked like it was going to be a close one in the early going, as Castaneda and ‘Chapo’ traded strikes throughout a fun first round. By the second round, though, not only was Castaneda the more active fighter, but it also looked like he had more power too.
A right hand had Johns hurt in the later part of the round. While ‘Sexi Mexi’ couldn’t quite put him away, it was quite clear that going into the third, he was in firm control.
Sure enough, the third round saw Castaneda open up with a nasty combination that hurt the backpedalling Johns, knocking him to the ground. From there, rather than look to finish with strikes, he locked up a tight arm-triangle choke that forced ‘Chapo’ to pass out.
This was a genuinely excellent performance from Castaneda, capped off with a pretty explosive finish. It’s likely he’ll now steal any momentum and hype that was previously around Johns. That may well earn him a main card slot next time around.
#3. Brendan Allen makes the most of his late-notice opportunity and takes out Sam Alvey
Strangely enough, last night’s event saw just one fight that had to be changed on late notice due to injury. Phil Hawes was forced out of his middleweight clash with Sam Alvey midway through last week. Prospect Brendan Allen stepped in to replace him, with the fight becoming a light heavyweight one in the process.
Considering Allen had been stopped in his last UFC bout, this was a risky decision – particularly when he didn’t look to be in the best shape at Friday night’s weigh-ins. However, his gamble paid off handsomely, and he picked up one of the night’s more explosive finishes.
After a bit of a slow first round that saw Alvey connect with his trademark counter right hook, stunning Allen slightly, ‘All-In’ took over in the second round.
When ‘Smilin Sam’ attempted a flurry, Allen countered with a quick combination that dropped him to his knees. From there, Allen pounced on his opponent, locking up a brutal no-hooks rear naked choke that quickly forced the veteran to tap out.
Given Alvey’s awful record in recent fights – this was his seventh loss in his last eight fights, with the other being a draw – the win probably won’t shift Allen up the rankings. However, ‘All In’ still looked excellent, and he’s now in no danger of losing his spot in the roster.
#2. Shavkat Rakhmonov’s spinning kick gives him a win in a battle of prospects
Of all of the various prospects and rising stars in last night’s undercard, Shavkat Rakhmonov perhaps had the most hype around him. The Kazakh native had a record of 14-0 coming into last night’s bout with Carlston Harris, and had gone 2-0 in the UFC with two finishes.
Last night saw him pick up his third finish inside the octagon. It came in such explosive fashion that it earned him a $50K bonus, and may well push him up towards the top 15 in the welterweight division.
Against the dangerous Harris, Rakhmonov got off with his strikes early, hurting the native of Guyana and forcing him to clinch. However, that didn’t stop ‘Nomad’, as he quickly hit a judo trip to drop Harris on his head, forcing a break.
From there, Rakhmonov decked him out of nowhere with a spinning hook kick to the head. With Harris unable to recover, ‘Nomad’ quickly pounced, and blasted him with punches for the finish.
To say this was impressive would be an understatement. The only knock on Rakhmonov right now is that we don’t know how he’ll fight through adversity. However, it’s difficult not to get excited about a prospect when he’s capable of doing things like this.
Expect the hype train to be fully up to speed next time this exciting fighter steps into the octagon.
#1. Chidi Njokuani makes a huge splash on his UFC debut
While Shavkat Rakhmonov’s flashy finish would usually take all the plaudits on a UFC event, last night’s most explosive moment undoubtedly belonged to octagon debutant Chidi Njokuani.
It’s difficult to really label ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ a prospect as such, as he’s already 33, and has been fighting for a long time, most notably in Bellator MMA. However, last night, it looked like he was making up for lost time in terms of how long it has taken him to get to the big show.
His opponent Marc-Andre Barriault had fought in the octagon on six occasions in the past, going 2-3-1, and had never been finished. However, it took Njokuani just 16 seconds to change that.
The Nigerian connected with a jab, and then followed with a right hand haymaker that sent Barriault crashing to the ground. A few more punches followed, and that was that.
This was the second-fastest finish by a middleweight debut in UFC history – behind only Mark Weir’s legendary knockout of Eugene Jackson in 2002. It should propel Njokuani into a main card slot next time around at least.
It also earned ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ a $50K bonus, meaning things couldn’t have gone much better for him.
