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#4. Azamat Murzakanov opens his UFC career with a sick flying knee
After crushing his opponent on Dana White’s Contender Series, hopes were high for UFC debutant Azamat Murzakanov last night, particularly as the native of Russia already had a total of nine finishes on his record.
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Nobody in the UFC could’ve expected him to make such a stunning impact, though. He delivered probably the night’s flashiest finish with a flying knee knockout of opponent Tafon Nchukwi in the third round of their UFC light heavyweight bout.
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The fight was largely contested on the feet throughout. In the first two rounds at least, it looked like Nchukwi had the advantage. Sure, he wasn’t able to outright hurt ‘The Professional’, but he certainly appeared to be the better striker overall.
In the third round, though – probably knowing he needed a finish – Murzakanov turned up the aggression hugely, and it worked remarkably well.
He clocked ‘Da Don’ with a huge left hook that wobbled him. With Nchukwi backpedalling, the Russian then followed by grabbing his head to deliver a jumping knee. The shot switched off the Cameroon native’s lights immediately, and the fight was over just like that.
The win unsurprisingly earned the UFC newcomer a $50k bonus. While he’ll have to fight much better than this to climb the ladder in the UFC's 205lbs division, this was still an outstanding – and explosive – start for him.
#3. Drew Dober unleashes an explosive finish on Terrance McKinney
The most explosive fight on offer overall last night was undoubtedly Drew Dober’s war with Terrance McKinney. Sure, this clash lasted just over three minutes, but it was chock full of action. One would hope that the two lightweights were rewarded handsomely for their efforts.
McKinney took the bout on just two weeks’ notice. Early on, it seemed clear that his best bet would be to attack Dober and look to get him out of the octagon early. Sure enough, he opened the fight with a brutal knee, and then dropped his opponent with a flurry that had him on the verge of being finished.
Dober showed a lot of toughness to survive. He weathered another storm, surviving another wobbly moment before finally coming back at ‘T-Wrecks’ with some punches of his own.
With both men looking a little tired despite the first round only being midway through, Dober then tuned McKinney up with a knee to counter a head kick. This time, ‘T-Wrecks’ was the fighter who was hurt.
From there, Dober pounced on him as he fell and opened up with huge shots from the top position until UFC referee Keith Peterson was forced to step in.
This was a massively impressive win for Dober, particularly as he was coming off back-to-back losses and had to deal with a remarkably aggressive opponent. He remains one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC to watch. While McKinney may well have the brighter future still, he’ll need to regroup after suffering this loss.
