5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad

#2. Andre Fialho opens his UFC account with a beautiful KO of Miguel Baeza

Andre Fialho was impressive in his win over Miguel Baeza

On paper at least, the welterweight clash between Andre Fialho and Miguel Baeza looked likely to produce a contender for the 'Fight of the Night' award. Fialho had been involved in a thriller against Michel Pereira in his UFC debut while Baeza had been in a number of wars in recent years.

In the end, the fight simply didn’t last long enough to be in contention for the award, but thanks to an explosive showing that won him the fight in just under five minutes, it did net Fialho a $50k bonus.

The fight was full of striking exchanges from the start. In the end, Baeza made a largely fatal mistake that led to his downfall. A trade-off saw him land a glancing right hand, but he also ate an uppercut. When Fialho grabbed a clinch, ‘Caramel Thunder’ couldn’t free himself.

That allowed the Brazilian to rock him with a series of heavy uppercuts that were reminiscent of Chris Leben’s win over Wanderlei Silva. With Baeza on wobbly legs, it didn’t take much more for Fialho to drop him and finish him off.

Baeza disputed the stoppage after the fight, but it was clear that he was definitely done, with referee Mark Smith making an excellent call. This was also an excellent, and explosive, win for Fialho, who should steal Baeza’s thunder as a prospect going forward.

---

#1. Drakkar Klose returns in style to dispatch Brandon Jenkins

Drakkar Klose looked excellent in his return win over Brandon Jenkins

One of the most controversial UFC moments in 2021 saw Drakkar Klose somehow get badly injured by a shove from Jeremy Stephens at the weigh-ins for their eventually scrapped bout, and incredibly, he’d been on the shelf ever since.

Last night saw Klose return to action for the first time since that incident. With nearly a year in the books, he wasted no time in getting back to it, taking out late notice replacement Brandon Jenkins in violent fashion.

Quite how this fight made it into the second round is anyone’s guess. Klose abused Jenkins from the off, hitting him with basically everything in his arsenal and knocking him all over the octagon throughout the opening five minutes.

In reality, Jenkins’ corner should probably have called a stoppage between rounds, but instead, they let the action continue. It came as no surprise to see Klose open up on him again in the second, destroying him with a combination that finally put him down for good.

While this win clearly came over a weaker opponent, it was still great to see Klose return this way after such a freak incident put him on the shelf, and it was also great to see his explosive finish net him a bonus of $50k.