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UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs Kelvin Gastelum was hardly 2021’s most highly anticipated UFC event, but in the end, it provided plenty of good action.
Incredibly, the preliminary portion of this UFC Fight Night was more entertaining than the main card, with several incredible finishes.
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With a handful of moments almost guaranteed to make it onto 2021’s UFC highlight reel, fans who only tuned in for the main card would’ve been greatly disappointed to miss the earlier fights.
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On that note, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Jared Cannonier vs Kelvin Gastelum.
#5 Alexandre Pantoja secures a likely UFC title shot with his win over Brandon Royval
Last night’s main card opener between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval was advertised as a likely UFC flyweight title eliminator, and was expected to be a fascinating bout.
The clash delivered on all fronts, and was probably the best fight overall on the main card. Both men went back-and-forth throughout the first round, with Royval’s sheer aggression allowing him to combat the superior technique of Pantoja.
However, ‘The Cannibal’ always looked one step ahead of his opponent - even when ‘Raw Dawg’ appeared to have locked up a potential heel hook during the first round. Indeed, Pantoja remained calm, escaped and ended the round with a heavy combination.
In the second round, though, some beautiful grappling technique allowed Pantoja to take the back of Royval, and from there, he wasted no time in locking down a body triangle before searching for a rear naked choke.
Royval attempted to defend the hold, but ‘The Cannibal’ managed to slide his arm across the neck, and moments later ‘Raw Dawg’ was forced to tap out. Was it an explosive finish compared to some of the ones we saw earlier? Well, no, but it was arguably last night’s slickest, and that counts for a lot too!
The win could hardly have been more impressive for Pantoja, and the fact that he got a slick finish like this only made it better. Hopefully, the UFC can set up a fight between him and current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno shortly.
#4 Saidyokub Kakhramonov debuts with a bang by putting Trevin Jones to sleep
Before last night’s show, not even hardcore UFC fans had really heard of newcomer Saidyokub Kakhramonov, who took his fight with Trevin Jones on late notice. In fact, the debutant even missed the bantamweight limit of 135 lb, probably due to a lack of time to prepare for the fight.
In the octagon, though, Kakhramonov looked excellent, particularly when you consider that Jones was coming off back-to-back UFC knockouts, and had plenty of momentum behind him.
The fight was undoubtedly close to call, as it was fought primarily in the clinch, with both men having some success. Quite who would’ve seen their hand raised had the clash gone to the judges is anyone’s guess.
However, Kakhramonov ensured the judges weren’t needed by snaring Jones in a standing power guillotine choke with just 21 seconds left in the final round. Jones wasn’t even given a chance to escape - nor tap - as the newcomer tightened and wrenched on the hold so much that ‘5-Star’ simply passed out.
This was arguably the most aggressive guillotine choke we’ve seen in the UFC since Jon Jones’ legendary finish of Lyoto Machida a decade ago. That likely would’ve netted Kakhramonov a $50K bonus, had he not missed weight.
As it is, though, he’ll have to settle for garnering plenty of attention for his explosive finish this morning, and should have fans keeping an eye on him going forward.
#3 Josiane Nunes ignores a huge size disadvantage to take out Bea Malecki
The most immediately noticeable thing about the women’s bantamweight fight between Bea Malecki and newcomer Josiane Nunes was the ludicrous size advantage that Sweden’s Malecki appeared to enjoy.
Although both women weighed in at the 135 lb bantamweight limit, Malecki stood six inches taller than Nunes, and also enjoyed a seven-inch reach advantage. It literally looked like the two fighters should’ve been in separate weight classes.
However, when the fight began, it quickly became clear that Malecki simply didn’t know how to maximise her size advantage. Instead, she continually ate several overhand punches from Nunes, who constantly backed her up and forced her onto the defensive.
With Malecki constantly dropping her hands, it felt like only a matter of time before something big landed for Nunes, and sure enough, with just six seconds remaining in the first round, the Brazilian clocked her with an overhand right that knocked her senseless.
Quite how far Nunes can go in the UFC remains to be seen, as Malecki was hardly a proven fighter herself. But this was definitely a great start, and should go down as one of 2021’s more memorable knockouts, thanks to the bizarre visual of the size difference.
#2 William Knight forgets about technique and focuses on sheer power
If you were directing a movie about a top-level MMA champion, the likelihood is that the main character would look something like William Knight.
While he was just 1-1 in the octagon coming into last night’s show, ‘The Knightmare’ is perhaps one of the most physically imposing fighters in UFC history, essentially looking like 205 lb of pure, explosive muscle. And last night he delivered a knockout that was like something from a movie, too.
His fight with Fabio Cherant certainly wasn’t great from a technical standpoint. Knight flung heavy leather at ‘The Water Buffalo’ early on in the first round, but appeared to be slowing down as the clock ticked on.
In fact, Cherant was on the attack towards the end of the round, backing Knight up, and worryingly, Knight looked all too willing to drop his hands.
As Cherant closed in, though, Knight somehow caught him with a short left hook that switched his lights off immediately. ‘The Water Buffalo’ crashed down face-first, and Knight celebrated with the kind of gymnastics you’d expect from a 135 lber.
This was a ridiculously explosive finish, particularly when replays showed that Knight hadn’t even thrown the knockout punch with clean technique. Evidently, technique doesn’t mean a lot when you can hit as hard as ‘The Knightmare’. He may not be ready for the top level just yet, but this prospect is clearly someone to watch at 205 lb.
#1 Ignacio Bahamondes finishes Roosevelt Roberts with one of the best knockouts of 2021
The most explosive finish of last night’s UFC Fight Night came early on, and will probably go down as one of the best knockouts of 2021 altogether. It may even make a viral star of Ignacio Bahamondes, whose only prior UFC appearance was a loss to John Makdessi.
Faced with a tricky foe in Roosevelt Roberts, Bahamondes looked switched on from the word go last night, attacking ‘The Predator’ with his explosive striking to win the first two rounds of the fight handily.
But evidently, Bahamondes wasn’t in the mood to let the judges decide whether he’d won the fight or not. Late in the third round, he landed the kind of finish that not only ensured a win, but also ensured everyone now knows exactly who he is.
With just seconds remaining in the fight, ‘La Jaula’ hit Roberts with an elbow strike that stunned him, and then followed with a spinning hook kick that sent him crashing to the ground in a heap.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime strike, landing with utter perfection and providing the UFC with a highlight-reel moment for years to come. It was probably the flashiest knockout we’ve seen in the UFC since Joaquin Buckley’s viral spinning back kick in 2020, in fact.
Naturally, it was enough to net Bahamondes a $50K bonus - but a finish this explosive will probably be worth much more than that to him in the bigger picture.
