5 most explosive moments from UFC 268: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2

#4. Bobby Green ends the night of Al Iaquinta in violent fashion

Bobby Green picked up his first stoppage since 2013 over Al Iaquinta

Four fighters competing at UFC 268 were awarded $50k Performance of the Night awards. One of the more surprising recipients was Bobby Green.

Coming into his clash with Al Iaquinta, not only had ‘King’ lost his last two bouts, but he also hadn’t produced a finish since his TKO win over James Krause back in November 2013.

That changed last night. Both Green and Iaquinta seemed content to trade shots from the off. Green used his trademark style – hands down, looking to shoulder-roll to avoid shots ala Floyd Mayweather - and he appeared to be the quicker man.

That speed advantage paid off at the midpoint of the round. He landed a beautiful one-two that split Iaquinta’s guard and sent him crashing to the ground. ‘King’ needed no further encouragement to pounce on him and finish him off.

This was a wonderful finish for Green, made all the sweeter due to his lack of finishes in recent years. Incredibly, it was the first time Iaquinta had ever been stopped with strikes, too – meaning ‘King’ more than earned his $50k bonus.

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#3. Alex Pereira unleashes a brutal flying knee on his UFC debut

Alex Pereira debuted in the UFC in style with a violent flying knee

There was plenty of hype around the UFC debut of middleweight Alex Pereira. After all, ‘Po Atan’ – a former GLORY kickboxing champion – remains the only man ever to knock out current UFC middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya.

Early on in his fight with Andreas Michailidis, though, it didn’t look like MMA was the sport for him. Michailidis used a clinch-based gameplan to prevent the Brazilian from opening up with his strikes, slowing him down to a grind.

It was clear that Pereira needed to change things up in the second round, and he did just that. With just seconds gone, he unleashed an incredible flying knee that sent Michailidis down like he’d been shot.

Pereira didn’t get a walk-off knockout – largely due to a weird decision from referee Dan Miragliotta to let the fight initially continue. Still, this was one of the best finishes of 2021, reminiscent of another famous flying knee KO from James Irvin in 2005.

Will Pereira climb the ladder to earn a fight with Adesanya in the UFC? Who knows, but based on this, he should make for some tremendously exciting fights in the octagon.