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UFC Fight Night: Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze was largely ignored this weekend due to the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight. However, the event turned out to be hugely exciting.
The majority of the fights on offer at UFC Fight Night event delivered in spades. A couple gave us some of the best finishes of 2021 thus far.
With just five of the twelve fights going the distance, this was a finisher’s card. It’s unfortunate that the UFC only give out four post-fight bonuses, as a couple of deserving fighters missed out.
With this in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze.
#5. Andre Petroski unleashes some of the most violent ground-and-pound in recent UFC history
The fight between UFC debutants Andre Petroski and Micheal Gillmore was largely flying under the radar last night. This was probably due to both men failing to make the middleweight finals of TUF 29.
However, the announcers were talking up Petroski’s ground skills prior to the fight. They suggested he had much more in his arsenal than he’d showed on the reality show. When it came to the fight, he proved them correct.
Petroski basically trucked Gillmore from the off in this fight, taking him down at will and slicing through his guard like butter. On numerous occasions, Petroski was able to take dominant positions on his opponent, particularly the full mount. But for a while, it looked like he’d be unable to finish.
That was until the third round. With Gillmore basically jammed up against the fence and stuck on his back, Petroski trapped his left arm. He took the opportunity to drop a series of brutal elbows into the side of his head.
Gillmore had no answer for this brutal assault. Seconds later, Jason Herzog stepped in and called the fight.
This was a mightily impressive performance from the debutant. While he’ll probably have a tougher test in his next fight, it’ll be fun to see him back in action.
#4. UFC veteran Gerald Meerschaert pulls off an excellent comeback against Makhmud Muradov
Last time UFC fans saw Gerald Meerschaert in action on a main card, he suffered a violent knockout at the hands of Khamzat Chimaev.
Early on last night, it felt like he was heading the same way in his fight with Makhmud Muradov. Meerschaert looked badly outgunned against the Uzbek fighter. He found himself in deep trouble in the first round thanks to Muradov’s wicked striking.
Meerschaert hung in there, arguably using a low blow to slow Muradov down, although he didn’t have a point deducted. In the second round, he pulled off a pretty stirring comeback with his explosive grappling skills.
‘GM3’ began to fire back on the feet, seemingly stunning Muradov with a left hand, and following that with a quick takedown.
From there, with Muradov looking like a fish out of water, Meerschaert quickly snaked onto his back. He wrapping him up a rear-naked choke moments later.
The win was a huge one for ‘GM3’, and probably saved his UFC career, too. He’s clearly never going to be a UFC middleweight title contender. However, given his finishing rate – he’s got seven UFC wins, all by KO or submission – he’s definitely worth keeping around.
#3. Dustin Jacoby demonstrates his kickboxing credentials to take out Darren Stewart
Dustin Jacoby isn’t exactly the most well-known UFC fighter. However, ‘The Hanyak’ is one of the more accomplished kickboxers to step into the octagon in recent years.
Jacoby has had major success in the Glory promotion, arguably the world’s biggest when it comes to kickboxing. However, he hadn’t really shown much of his skills in the UFC. That was at least before his win over Darren Stewart last night.
Jacoby didn’t just beat ‘The Dentist’. He absolutely took him apart with some of the best striking we’ve seen in the UFC in a long time.
A left hook-right cross combination was the beginning of the end for Stewart. The native of the UK was clearly hurt by the two shots. While he did swing heavy leather back, it was clear he was outgunned from a technical standpoint.
Jacoby dodged the shots with some incredible poise. He then fired back with pinpoint accuracy until the referee saved ‘The Dentist’ while he was still standing.
This was an explosive and beautiful finish, and it may well open some eyes when it comes to Jacoby. In his current stint with the UFC, he’s gone 3-0-1 and looks to be getting better and better.
#2. Abdul Razak Alhassan lands a brutal head kick KO in less than 30 seconds
The most explosive finish at UFC Vegas 35, from an esthetic standpoint, was Abdul Razak Alhassan’s head kick knockout of Alessio Di Chirico.
The middleweight clash was only put together when both fighters saw their original opponents withdraw. Despite moving up from his usual 170lbs, it was clear that Alhassan didn’t come to mess around.
He came forward in the opening seconds, shrugged off a kick attempt from Di Chirico – and then practically decapitated the Italian with a head kick.
It was a truly brutal knockout. Thankfully, Alhassan realised that his opponent was completely unconscious and didn’t even attempt to follow up with more strikes.
‘Judo Thunder’ may not ever break into UFC title contention, but he’s a ruthless and explosive finisher. Brutal stoppages like this one – the third win of his UFC career to be finished in under a minute – mean that there’ll always be a place for him in the promotion.
#1. Giga Chikadze breaks into the UFC's elite level with his TKO win over Edson Barboza
Alhassan’s finish was the most explosive of the night. However, the most impressive was Giga Chikadze’s stoppage of Edson Barboza in the main event.
Chikadze didn’t finish the Brazilian with one clean blow – it was more of an accumulation of strikes – but that didn’t make it any less brutal.
The fight reached the third round and was largely even through the first two. In the third, though, Chikadze began to turn up the heat – hurting Barboza with a big right hand.
With the Brazilian clearly on the back foot, the native of Georgia simply didn’t let up. He walked him down and dropped him with a barrage of strikes.
From there he attempted a D’Arce choke. When it didn’t come off, it looked like he may have lost his chance at a finish. That thought was premature, however.
Instead, ‘The Ninja’ simply continued to open up with violence, eventually dropping Barboza a second time. That was enough for referee Jason Herzog to step in – handing the Brazilian just his third loss via strikes in his decade-long UFC career.
Based on this showing, Chikadze is almost certainly a genuine UFC title contender at 145lbs. While he might not get Max Holloway as he requested last night, he ought to be given a top five opponent at least. At any rate, this was a phenomenal finish from a phenomenal UFC fighter.
