5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez

#2: Marcos Rogerio de Lima becomes the first fighter in a decade to stop Ben Rothwell in the UFC

Marcos Rogerio de Lima became the first man to stop Ben Rothwell in over a decade

The heavyweight bout between Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ben Rothwell seemed like a curious choice for last night’s co-main event, but in the end, the gamble paid off for the UFC as ‘Pezao’ produced a wild knockout.

Few fans were really giving the Brazilian a chance. De Lima had always struggled against bigger foes previously. With his underrated submission game and iron jaw, Ben Rothwell looked like a particularly tricky out for him.

However, the Brazilian clearly figured that the best way to go would be to throw caution to the wind and simply attack Rothwell with everything in his arsenal in the fight’s opening minutes.

Incredibly, the approach worked. De Lima caught Rothwell with a huge right hand with just seconds gone, and with ‘Big Ben’ reeling, he poured it on.

Sure, some of his punches didn’t actually land all that cleanly, but the ones that did had Rothwell on wobbly legs. While he somehow stayed on his feet, it was clear that he was done.

Referee Herb Dean has taken some slack for this stoppage, primarily from UFC President Dana White. By becoming the first man to stop Rothwell in over a decade, De Lima will take great confidence from his performance.

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#1: Song Yadong gets back on track with a beautiful KO

Song Yadong got firmly back on track with a violent knockout of Julio Arce

While it somehow wasn’t enough to earn him a $50k bonus award, the best knockout on offer last night from an visual point of view came from Song Yadong.

This explosive bantamweight was looking to get properly back on track after a loss to Kyler Phillips in March derailed his hype train somewhat, and he definitely did that, taking out Julio Arce in violent fashion to pick up his seventh UFC victory.

After just about edging a back-and-forth first round, Yadong came into the second like a man on a mission, and it was clear that Arce was outgunned on the feet.

Moments later, ‘The Kung Fu Monkey’ unleashed a brutal head kick that left Arce wobbling back towards the fence, badly hurt.

From there, the Chinese fighter smelt blood – and poured it on with a series of explosive punches that eventually caused Arce to crumple to the mat, ending his night in violent fashion.

The win made Yadong the first man to ever finish Arce in his MMA career, and should signal to the rest of the UFC bantamweight division that he’s ready for another attempt to climb to the top of the ladder.

Even if he can’t do that, with the ability to produce finishes like this, he should be around in the UFC as a fan favorite for a long time.