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UFC 262 is in the books, and wow, what a show the crowd in Houston, Texas, were treated to in the end.
UFC 262 featured some truly awesome fights, and in the main event, a new UFC lightweight champion was crowned in a truly astonishing way.
So without further ado, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC 262: Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler.
#1 Charles Oliveira claims UFC gold with an astonishing comeback against Michael Chandler
To say Charles Oliveira’s UFC lightweight title win against Michael Chandler was dramatic would be a total understatement. This was, in fact, one of the most exciting UFC title fights of all time.
The first round went firmly to Chandler, despite Oliveira dropping him early with a low kick and then taking his back momentarily.
The former Bellator champion escaped that and then hurt Do Bronx with his brutal punching power, sitting him down and putting him on the verge of being finished.
Oliveira survived, but when the second round ended, it felt like only a matter of time before Chandler put him away for good.
Instead, though, Oliveira marched out to the center of the octagon to begin the second round. The Brazilian nailed Chandler with a left hand that stunned him and then swarmed him for a truly explosive finish.
Quite how long Oliveira’s title reign will last is anyone’s guess. But this was a truly dramatic way for it to begin, in one of the best UFC fights of 2021 thus far.
#2 Edson Barboza knocks out Shane Burgos with the ultimate delayed reaction
Coming into UFC 262, most fans figured that Edson Barboza’s featherweight clash with Shane Burgos might produce a Fight of the Night contender.
Those fans were right, but few could’ve foreseen quite how explosive – and bizarre – the finish would be.
After Barboza took the first round and Burgos took the second, the fight was clearly hanging in the balance going into the third.
But things quickly swung the way of the Brazilian when he caught Burgos with a clean right hand with a minute gone in the round.
At first, Burgos appeared to have absorbed the blow. But moments later, the Hurricane’s legs suddenly gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, apparently unconscious.
This was a crazy finish simply because delayed reactions like this are usually reserved for body shots, not strikes to the jaw. But evidently, Burgos had simply taken too much punishment earlier in the fight, and his body just gave way on him.
Either way, it was phenomenal for Barboza to pick up his first KO at 145lbs.
#3 Andre Muniz snaps Jacare’s arm in brutal fashion
Coming into UFC 262, most observers scoffed at Andre Muniz’s claim of being a better grappler than the legendary Jacare Souza.
After all, Jacare Souza’s credentials in the grappling world are almost unheard of in the world of MMA. And in his UFC career, nobody had ever outworked Jacare on the ground.
That changed last night.
After some back-and-forth grappling exchanges, Muniz managed to take Jacare’s back but appeared to be too high in the position.
Jacare looked to slide out of the back door but made a fatal error in the process – leaving his left arm behind.
From there, Muniz capitalized, wrenching on the arm until it audibly snapped in two. This caused an instant end to the fight, giving UFC viewers one of the nastiest moments in the promotion’s history.
This was a historic submission of one of the best grapplers in UFC history, and it was a truly explosive moment, but in an ugly way.
#4 Jordan Wright channels Travis Browne to take out Jamie Pickett
The use of elbows to knock out an opponent driving for a takedown against the fence was introduced to the UFC by Jake Hecht. However, the maneuver will forever be synonymous with Travis Browne, who used them to KO two opponents in 2013.
At UFC 262, the Travis Browne elbows made another appearance, this time being used by Jordan Wright to set up a devastating knockout of Jamie Pickett.
Early in the middleweight fight, Pickett was the aggressor, backing Wright up with a series of punches. But when he dropped for a takedown, Wright quickly responded with elbows to the head, and Pickett immediately buckled.
He was able to get to his feet, but from there, the Beverly Hills Ninja didn’t let up, swarming him until he finished him with a combination moments later.
This was Wright’s second win in the UFC and moved him to 12-1 in his MMA career overall. Expect this exciting fighter to get a nice push from the UFC next time out after this explosive finish.
#5 Andrea Lee saves her UFC career with a beautiful submission
Andre Muniz’s submission of Jacare Souza can’t really be touched from a brutality standpoint. But from the perspective of sheer aesthetics, Andrea Lee’s tap-out of Antonina Shevchenko might’ve been better.
KGB looked excellent throughout the flyweight tilt. When she locked on a picture-perfect triangle choke in the second round, the fight appeared to be over.
But at first, try as she might, Lee simply couldn’t coax a tap from La Pantera.
She tried elbowing her in the head, pulling her head down, and tightening the hold. But somehow, Shevchenko held on. And with the seconds ticking down, it looked like the submission was about to be a missed opportunity.
But Lee continued to look for a way to finish and eventually switched off to a triangle/armbar combination that finally forced Shevchenko to tap out.
This was not only a truly excellent finish, but it was also Lee’s first in the UFC. Based on how good it was, it was well worth the wait.
