5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori

UFC fans came into last night’s Fight Night show with high hopes that it’d deliver a lot more action than the last couple of events have done.

UFC Fight Night: Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori didn’t feature an explosive finish in the main event – nor in the co-main for that matter. However, there were still plenty of cool and memorable moments on offer. With four fighters claiming $50K bonus awards for their work, there was basically something for all UFC fans to enjoy on this show.

Here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori.

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#5. Nicolae Negumereanu opens the main card with a bang to pick up his second UFC win

Nicolae Negumereanu dealt with Ike Villanueva in violent fashion.

The main card of last night’s UFC show opened with a bang, as Romanian fighter Nicolae Negumereanu took out opponent Ike Villanueva in just over a minute.

Nobody really expected this light-heavyweight clash to go the distance, as both men had carved out reputations as wild and aggressive brawlers. Villanueva, in particular, had become known for his kill-or-be-killed style.

Last night, it didn’t go too well for him, but the finish didn’t come without some controversy. After a slow, clinch-based start to the fight, Negumereanu broke free and began to unload punches on Villanueva, who attempted to throw back, but looked outgunned.

Eventually, a shot from ‘Nick’ clipped Villanueva seemingly behind the head, dropping him face-first. ‘Hurricane Ike’ was clearly out of it, and a few more follow-up shots sealed the deal.

The big question, though, and the reason why Villanueva looked angry after the fight was whether the blows were legal, or whether they hit the back of the head. That was debatable, but referee Mike Beltran had no issue with it, and eventually., Villanueva looked cool with it too.

Either way, this was an explosive way to start the night and an excellent win for Negumereanu.

#4. Jeff Molina picks up the first knockout of the show in style

Jeff Molina was responsible for the first finish of last night's UFC event.

The first finish of last night’s show went to flyweight Jeff Molina, who knocked out UFC newcomer Daniel Lacerda to pick up his second octagon victory.

The fight wasn’t without difficulties for Molina, who struggled to control Lacerda on the mat throughout the first round, finding himself in a couple of potential submissions. He ended the round strongly, though, and then really opened up in the second round.

A big left hand from Molina countered an attempted kick from Lacerda. While it didn’t look like a true knockdown, the newcomer fell to the ground, and from there, ‘El Jefe’ pounced.

He unleashed some serious ground strikes, opening up at such a furious pace that Lacerda couldn’t really defend. The latter eventually wound up rolling to his stomach to attempt to avoid the blows. Molina didn’t let up, though, and moments later, the fight was called off by referee Keith Peterson.

This was an excellent showing from Molina. While it wasn’t enough to win him a $50K bonus, it should move him up the ladder in the 125lbs division, and perhaps give him a main card slot next time around.

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#3. Jai Herbert gets off the mark in the UFC with a KO of Khama Worthy

Jai Herbert picked up his first UFC win by stopping Khama Worthy.

It’s probably safe to say that Jai Herbert suffered from some bad luck in his first couple of UFC bouts.

‘The Black Country Banger’ had both Francisco Trinaldo and Renato Moicano struggling for portions of his fights with them. However, in the end, both fights saw him succumb and get finished by the veterans.

Last night, he was probably in the last chance saloon in his fight with Khama Worthy, a fellow knockout artist who’d started his UFC career well but had fallen on hard times with two consecutive stoppage defeats.

It was clear that both lightweights felt like this was their final chance to impress. So unsurprisingly, they came to throw down, and exchanged wicked strikes from the off.

However, it was Herbert who landed the bigger shots first. A big combination – punctuated with a head kick – left ‘The Deathstar’ hurt, and a follow-up right hand appeared to take the latter's legs away from him.

Moments later, more strikes from Herbert dropped Worthy. From there, ‘The Black Country Banger’ continued to pour on the offense until referee Chris Tognoni stepped in.

Whether Herbert can use this as a springboard to more octagon success is a question mark. However, for now, it was an excellent and explosive win for him to basically save his UFC career.

#2. Alex Caceres shows his skills in his submission over Seung Woo Choi

Alex Caceres came from behind to defeat Seung Woo Choi.

Longtime featherweight veteran Alex Caceres was looking for his fifth UFC win in a row last night. He found it in both tricky and explosive fashion.

Faced with dangerous kickboxer Seung Woo Choi, ‘Bruce Leeroy’ looked practically out of his depth in the first round. Attempting to strike with the Korean appeared to be a major mistake, as he was hurt on multiple occasions. He found himself dropped, and perhaps only survived due to Choi errantly hitting him with an illegal knee.

By the time the second round began, it was painfully clear that Caceres needed to change things up. Incredibly, he did just that, capitalizing on a single error to take out his opponent in the blink of an eye.

A combination had ‘Bruce Leeroy’ backpedalling. However, as Choi closed in, somehow Caceres snaked his way around him and leapt onto his back. In seemingly one deft moment, he locked up a rear naked choke to force the Korean to tap out.

This was a tremendous turnaround from Caceres, who basically snatched out a submission from nowhere, stealing victory from the jaws of defeat. Not only did the win mark his fifth victory in a row, the best run of his UFC career, but it also netted him a deserved $50K bonus.

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#1. Gregory Rodrigues takes out Jun Yong Park in a classic UFC war

Gregory Rodrigues defeated Jun Yong Park in a genuine war.

The best fight on offer last night came in the middleweight division between Gregory Rodrigues and Jun Yong Park. Rodrigues and ‘The Iron Turtle’ went hell for leather for two rounds, exchanging bombs until the Korean fighter simply couldn’t take any more.

Rodrigues actually won the first round, somewhat based on his superior grappling game, as he took Park down and locked up a body triangle to punish him with strikes. However, the second round saw any semblance of proper technique thrown out of the window. Instead, ‘Robocop’ chose to throw caution to the wind and trade huge bombs with Park, essentially hoping his chin would pull him to victory.

Early on it didn’t look like the case, as Rodrigues got hurt and was forced to shoot, landing him in a near guillotine choke from ‘The Iron Turtle’. Once he escaped, though, he went right back to trading with the Korean, and that paid off, as a big combination had Park hurt.

With his opponent stunned, Rodrigues didn’t let up. While the punches resembled more of a bar-room brawl than anything else, he kept pouring on the punishment until Keith Peterson was forced to stop things, with Park leaning against the fence.

This was a tremendous fight, and both men deserve plenty of credit. Indeed, they picked up $50K each for their efforts, even if it was Rodrigues who came away with the explosive finish in the end on the night.