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The first UFC pay-per-view of 2023 went down in Rio de Janeiro last night, and with plenty of action to take in, it turned out to be a good one.
UFC 283 saw a number of excellent finishes, and we even got an early contender for Knockout of the Year.
Here, then, are the five best finishes of UFC 283: Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill.
#5. Gabriel Bonfim defeated Mounir Lazzez in a UFC welterweight bout
It wasn’t as flashy as the finish produced by his brother – more on that later – but Gabriel Bonfim made a great UFC debut by submitting Mounir Lazzez in the first round.
Lazzez was 2-1 in his first three trips to the octagon, and the native of Tunisia seemed to be no slouch. However, Bonfim wasted no time and needed just 49 seconds to put him away, taking his own record to 14-0 overall.
After an early exchange, the fight was essentially over as soon as Lazzez charged in for a double-leg takedown. ‘Sniper’ left his head free, and Bonfim capitalized by locking up a guillotine choke, dropping to his back, and rolling all the way over into the mount.
From there, ‘Marretinha’ simply tightened things up, and moments later, Lazzez tapped out. This was the first time the Tunisian had ever been submitted in MMA. Notably, Bonfim now has ten tapout wins to his name.
Overall, this was an excellent finish from the debutant, and given it only took him 49 seconds, he’ll hopefully be back in action soon.
#4. Gilbert Burns defeated Neil Magny in a UFC welterweight bout
Some fights in the UFC go exactly the way that observers expect they will, and that’s what happened last night when Gilbert Burns faced Neil Magny.
The general consensus was that despite being an excellent fighter, Magny had always struggled against specialists in a single area. Burns, being a top-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, was the very epitome of those specialists.
Sure enough, ‘Durinho’ wasted no time in taking Magny down, and from there, he went to work. ‘The Haitian Sensation’ was forced to be nothing but defensive for the remainder of the fight as Burns ran a grappling clinic on him.
Eventually, Burns used a keylock attempt to set up a picture-perfect arm-triangle choke, forcing Magny to submit almost instantly.
This fight could not have gone any better for ‘Durinho’, and it’s now likely that his attention will turn to the upcoming welterweight title bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. With any luck, he might receive a title shot later in 2023.
#3. Brunno Ferreira defeated Gregory Rodrigues in a UFC middleweight bout
One of the biggest underdogs in action last night was middleweight newcomer Brunno Ferreira. Not only was ‘The Hulk’ making his UFC debut, but he was also faced with an ultra-tough opponent in the form of Gregory Rodrigues.
Given that ‘Robocop’ had seemingly demonstrated an iron chin in his previous octagon bout against Chidi Njokuani, it was hard to see how Ferreira, a striker, would have much success.
However, this was one of those weird fights that saw Rodrigues look perfectly fine until, well, he got punched in the face.
It looked like ‘Robocop’ was closing in to hurt his opponent when the finish came. After pawing with a couple of set-up shots, Ferreira uncorked a brutal left hand that knocked Rodrigues senseless, sending him crashing to the ground.
From there, ‘The Hulk’ dived in with one more vicious shot – cutting Rodrigues’ face open – right before the referee could dive in.
This was a brutal finish from Ferreira, and on another night, it would’ve won him a $50k bonus. As it was, he’ll have to settle with the knowledge that his octagon debut couldn’t have gone any better.
#2. Johnny Walker defeated Paul Craig in a UFC light-heavyweight bout
Given their ridiculous finishing rates in their previous fights, nobody expected the light-heavyweight bout between Johnny Walker and Paul Craig to go the distance. It was just a matter of which man would impose themselves first.
In the end, it turned out to be Walker. After a lengthy feel-out process, the Brazilian threw a kick that Craig deftly caught under his arm.
Before he could respond, though, Walker hit him with a stiff right hand that rocked him and followed with a series of punches, elbows, and hammer fists that sent the Scotsman down.
Craig was knocked silly within an instant, forcing the referee to rescue him, and Walker, ever the entertainer, busted out his “worm” celebration.
This was an excellent performance from Walker, who should be elevated into the top ten in the UFC’s 205lbs division next week. Whoever he fights next is in for a remarkably tough time.
#1. Ismael Bonfim defeated Terrance McKinney in a UFC lightweight bout
The best finish at UFC 283 undoubtedly belonged to newcomer Ismael Bonfim, who was unsurprisingly awarded a $50k bonus for his efforts.
He busted out an early contender for 2023’s knockout of the year by taking out Terrance McKinney in the second round and may well have turned himself into a star, particularly in Brazil.
After an action-packed first round, the two lightweights continued to exchange in the second. However, it quickly became clear that Bonfim had the advantage in terms of speed. He had also caught ‘T-Wrecks’ early on and had him stunned, but McKinney recovered.
That wasn’t the case soon after. ‘Marreta’ hurt McKinney with a big combination, sending his mouthpiece flying in the process.
With ‘T-Wrecks’ stunned and trapped against the fence, Bonfim jumped into the air, cracked him with a flying knee, and sent him crashing to the ground, face-first.
This was a truly brutal finish from Bonfim, who now hasn’t lost a fight since a 2014 clash with Renato Moicano. Quite how far he can go is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say that this knockout was one for the books.
