5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera

#4. Gabe Green plays it smart to dispatch a tired Yohan Lainesse

Gabe Green did well to pull off a comeback win over Yohan Lainesse

The preliminary fight between welterweights Gabe Green and Yohan Lainesse wasn’t garnering much attention at all last night, but it actually produced one of the night’s most explosive – and smartest – finishes overall.

Early on, it looked like the debutant Lainesse, who was coming into the UFC with an unbeaten 8-0 record, would be well on his way to securing a victory. He basically picked apart a flat-footed looking Green in the first round and even dominated him on the mat when the fight briefly hit the ground.

The second round, meanwhile, saw the Canadian deck ‘Gifted Gabe’, but when he failed to finish him off in the aftermath and the subsequent scramble on the ground, the fight turned entirely.

Suddenly, ‘The White Lion’ looked utterly exhausted, and lost any semblance of snap in his strikes. That allowed Green to get back into the fight, and smartly, recognizing how gassed his opponent was, he began to dig hard to the body with some nasty punches.

Moments later, Lainesse wilted and hit the ground, and the fight was finished just seconds later. Considering Green hadn’t fought in the octagon since February 2021, this was a highly impressive win for him. The fact that he’s now the owner of a winning UFC record doesn’t harm things for him either.

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#3. Francisco Figueiredo shows he’s almost as dangerous as his UFC champion brother

Francisco Figueiredo pulled off a beautiful kneebar win over Daniel Lacerda

The UFC has seen a number of sets of brothers fight in the octagon over the years, and for the most part, with the odd exception of Nick and Nate Diaz, one sibling tends to be far more successful than the other.

As for the Figueiredo brothers, it’s obviously not hard to see that younger brother Deiveson has been more successful than his older sibling Francisco. ‘The God of War’ is currently the reigning UFC flyweight champion and has only lost two bouts in his octagon career.

Francisco, on the other hand, came into last night’s event with a 1-1 record in the octagon and a patchy record overall of 12-4. Given this record, it was no surprise that his fight with Daniel Lacerda was flying under the radar.

However, in just over a minute, not only did Francisco prove that he’s almost as dangerous as his brother, he also claimed a nice $50k bonus thanks to a slick – and explosive – kneebar that seemed to come from nowhere.

This wasn’t a submission that was meticulously set up, even though it took remarkable skill. Lacerda looked comfortable on top, essentially until he wasn’t, as Figueiredo seemed to hit a scramble from nowhere and locked in the hold seconds later.

It’s doubtful that Figueiredo is going to be challenging his brother for the gold any time soon – and not only for the obvious reason – but as long as he can produce slick finishes like this, he’ll probably have a place on the UFC’s roster.