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UFC Fight Night: Aspen Ladd vs. Norma Dumont was probably one of the least anticipated UFC events in some time. Unfortunately, it turned out to be forgettable.
Of the ten fights on offer at this UFC Fight Night, only four of them ended before the final buzzer, meaning explosive finishes were few and far between.
With a number of big UFC events coming up soon, it’s unlikely fans will be talking about this event for long. Unfortunately, it felt like another reminder that the promotion may be spreading itself too thin right now.
Nevertheless, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Aspen Ladd vs. Norma Dumont.
#5. Ariane Carnelossi opens the show with her second UFC finish in a row
It wasn’t exactly 'explosive' per se, but Brazil’s Ariane Carnelossi at least started last night’s event with a finish, picking up the second finish of her UFC career in the process. To be fair, her clash with Istela Nunes had plenty of watchable action, and was amongst last night’s better fights.
The two strawweights went toe-to-toe from the opening moments of the fight. Carnelossi swung the wilder, heavier strikes as opposed to Nunes’ slightly more controlled attack. However, once Carnelossi was able to get her foe to the ground in the second round, it quickly became clear she had a path to victory.
Nunes looked out of her depth once Carnelossi put her on her back. She was able to escape to her feet in the second round, and landed a solid body kick when she was back up. However, when she was taken down in the third, it was clear she was in trouble.
Sure enough, ‘Sorriso’ was able to take the back of her opponent. From there, she snaked an arm under the chin and quickly locked down on a rear naked choke. The academic tapout came just moments later.
The win moves Carnelossi to 2-1 in the UFC and 14-2 overall. Based on what we have seen in her last two fights, she could yet move into the upper echelons of the UFC strawweight division.
#4. Nate Landwehr ends his brawl with Ludovit Klein in style
Featherweight Nate Landwehr only debuted with the UFC in January 2020. However, in that period, despite only going 1-2 in the octagon, he has carved out a reputation for himself for putting on wild, exciting brawls.
His clash with Ludovit Klein last night was certainly no different. After a slightly slow start, the two 145lbers quickly heated things up, and began to brawl with wild aggression.
It seemed like defense was the last word on the mind of either man, as they threw bombs at one another from close quarters. At that stage, it felt like only a matter of time before one was knocked out, but surprisingly, Landwehr ended things with more panache than that.
‘The Train’ showed a glimpse of something more than his brawling skills in the second round, when he snapped Klein down from a front facelock to attempt an anaconda choke. The hold looked close, but Klein refused to give up and managed to escape.
However, it was a warning shot the Slovakian simply didn’t heed. The third round saw Landwehr close the distance again. This time when he attempted the snap-down into an anaconda choke, he got the position slightly better and the hold slightly tighter.
Klein was clearly in trouble, and seconds later, he was forced to tap out. Impressively, this was the first submission victory for ‘The Train’ in his 19-fight career. Given the exciting nature of this fight, it was unsurprising to see him granted a well-deserved $50K bonus.
#3. Danaa Batgerel hammers Brandon Davis in the first round
The quickest finish at last night’s UFC event came in the second fight of the night, where Mongolian bantamweight Danaa Batgerel wasted no time in turning the lights out on Brandon Davis.
‘Storm’ was already coming off a pair of excellent knockout wins over Guido Cannetti and Kevin Natividad, but this one looked like a trickier test for him. Sure, Davis hadn’t fought in the UFC since 2019, but he was riding a four-fight win streak. In his previous run with the promotion, he had only ever been finished by Zabit Magomedsharipov.
However, Batgerel simply made it look like Davis didn’t belong anywhere near the same octagon as him. He walked ‘Killer B’ down from the word go, rocking him early on with a right hand, and simply didn’t let up.
Eventually, a huge right hand knocked Davis off his feet, sending him crashing into the fence. While Davis was able to get back to his feet, the Mongolian continued to pour on the offense until the former fell again for the finish.
This was a pretty brutal knockout that saw Davis go down on multiple occasions, and should mark Batgerel out as a fighter to watch in this division going forward. If nothing else, he should appear on the main card of his next UFC event.
#2. Bruno Silva pulls off an epic comeback to stop Andrew Sanchez
After debuting in the UFC in June with a brutal knockout of Wellington Turman, hopes were high for Brazilian middleweight prospect Bruno Silva. However, against Andrew Sanchez, it looked like he’d bitten off more than he could chew.
Despite landing some decent strikes in the early rounds, it looked like ‘Blindado’ simply couldn’t stop the takedowns of his opponent. Sanchez wrestled him to the ground over and over. While Silva put up a good fight from his back, he appeared to be on his way to a decision loss. However, in the third round, the Brazilian decided to throw caution to the wind, and it paid off, big time.
A low blow from Sanchez allowed Silva a bit of a recovery, and from there, he opened up on the TUF 23 winner with a blitz of violence. Sanchez began to retreat for the first time in the fight. As soon as Silva began to hit his body with punches and knees, it was clear Sanchez was in trouble.
‘El Dirte’ continued to back up, and ‘Blindado’ clearly smelled blood in the water. He continued to pour on the punishment, and with Sanchez only covering up, referee Keith Peterson was forced to step in and halt the fight.
This was a huge win for Silva, particularly given that he was two rounds in the hole. Whether he can climb into title contention given his seemingly questionable takedown defense is another thing, but after this win, he has certainly earned the right for that.
#1. Jim Miller stuns everyone with his knockout of Erick Gonzalez
The most explosive moment of the night came from a surprising fighter, as Jim Miller – in his 38th UFC fight – turned out the lights on newcomer Erick Gonzalez.
Sure, many fans were expecting Miller to win this fight, as Gonzalez had never fought anyone on his level before and was also making his UFC debut. However, few would’ve foreseen Miller unleashing a brutal knockout to take out the debutant.
Surprisingly, the fight didn’t begin all that well for the longtime veteran. ‘The Ghost Pepper’ clipped Miller with a combination midway through the first round that had him hurt. However, Miller was able to recover, and later on in the round, he began to hurt Gonzalez with a series of left hands.
It appeared that the left was landing at will for Miller, and in the second round, it didn’t take too long for him to take ‘The Ghost Pepper’ out for good. A missed crescent kick from Gonzalez opened him up for a counter, and Miller obliged – landing a crushing left hand that switched him off and forced ref Mark Smith to rescue Gonzale.
This was a genuinely brutal knockout, and it earned Miller not only a $50K bonus, but also his 22nd win in the UFC – and his first KO since 2016. To say this was a welcome finish would be an absolute understatement.
