5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic

#2. Michael Johnson looks back to his best in his win over Alan Patrick

Michael Johnson looked back to his best in a violent knockout win over Alan Patrick

Given the trajectories of their two careers in the UFC since, it’s wild to remember what happened back in September 2016 when Michael Johnson faced Dustin Poirier in the headliner of Fight Night 94. The fight saw the two men exchange on the feet – and Johnson proved to have the faster hands, as he turned the lights out on ‘The Diamond’ in just over a minute.

Since then, though, while Poirier was able to rise through the ranks, claim UFC gold and even pick up two wins over Conor McGregor, Johnson had struggled. Prior to last night, ‘The Menace’ had picked up just two wins, and came into last night’s bout with Alan Patrick off the back of four straight losses.

A fifth one against the Brazilian probably would’ve seen his octagon career come to an end, but instead, Johnson rolled back the years and picked up his first finish since that knockout over Poirier in remarkably similar fashion.

Sure, it took him to the second round to deliver it, but to see ‘The Menace’ uncork a beautiful combination – landing to the body and the head of ‘Nuguette’ before finishing him with a vicious left hook – was massively impressive.

Given he’s now 35 years old, whether this win can result in a career resurgence is anyone’s guess, but there’s no disputing that it was one of last night’s most explosive finishes.

---

#1. Manuel Torres debuts in the UFC in style with a brutal KO

Manuel Torres is a man to watch in the lightweight division after his KO of Frank Camacho

Last night’s most explosive finish belonged to UFC debutant Manuel Torres, who made a real splash by violently taking out opponent Frank Camacho in just three and a half minutes. ‘El Loco’, who already had five knockout finishes to his name, looked genuinely excellent here.

From the off, he traded punches with Camacho, and while ‘The Crank’ was swinging wildly for the most part, Torres looked calmer under fire and delivered the cleaner shots, hurting his opponent with an early uppercut.

Camacho did recover well, but from there, ‘El Loco’ was on him, throwing blistering combinations until finally, a left-right two-piece sat ‘The Crank’ down. Torre didn’t even need to follow up as it was clear Camacho was done, and Herb Dean quickly stepped in to stop things.

This was a genuinely excellent debut for Torres, who landed over 70% of the strikes he threw, and while he’ll face tougher tests than Camacho in the future, it should be fun to see how far he can go in the lightweight division.