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The UFC’s latest Fight Night event was not all that highly-anticipated, probably because its main event didn’t sound all that explosive on paper – and it turned out those fears were correct.
UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira had a headliner that didn’t really deliver the goods, but thankfully, there were plenty of other moments up and down this card that made it watchable.
The preliminary portion of the show was the strongest, with five of the six fights ending in finishes. Unfortunately, the main card slowed things down a little.
Regardless, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira.
#5. Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michel Pereira deliver the goods just as the UFC hoped
Last night’s co-headliner between welterweight action heroes Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michel Pereira may not have delivered a finish, but it certainly lived up to the hype, and ended up deservedly winning the 'Fight of the Night' award.
Every round felt like it was packed full of action, with Pereira taking the fight to ‘Gente Boa’ in the first round, stunning him with a right hand at one point, before Ponzinibbio came roaring back with some heavy shots of his own in the second.
Despite the pressure that the Argentine put on, though, it always felt like Pereira was slightly one step ahead. He landed the majority of the heavier shots, hurt Ponzinibbio by going to the body on a number of occasions, and in the end, he edged out a decision by landing 110 of the 216 strikes he threw.
What made this one so interesting was that ‘Demolidor’ largely chose to eschew the flashy, wild attacks that made him a semi-star in his early UFC days, and while it made for a less crazy fight, he looked far more effective overall.
The win should move Pereira up into the top fifteen at welterweight, but to be fair, Ponzinibbio probably won’t lose a lot from the defeat thanks to the quality of the fight. Overall, this clash made the main card worth watching.
#4. Jailton Almeida picks up a flawless victory over Parker Porter
It wasn’t explosive per say, but Jailton Almeida’s win over Parker Porter was a rare example of what you’d call a flawless victory in the UFC. As he produced one of the slickest finishes on the card, the Brazilian deserves a spot here.
‘Malhadinho’ was actually outsized by his opponent last night as he moved up to the heavyweight division from 205lbs for the first time, but to tell the truth, it didn’t matter one iota. A quick kick set up a takedown, and from there, the fight was basically over.
Once Almeida planted Porter on his back, he simply mauled him – landing plenty of shots while also slicing through his defenses like butter. It looked like he’d finish things via TKO at one point, but when Porter decided to give his back, Almeida was more than happy to slap on a rear-naked choke to force him to submit.
Put simply, ‘Malhadinho’ looked awesome in this fight, and given that he’s now 16-2, with two of those victories coming in the UFC via finish, it looks like the sky is the limit for him. Hopefully he can get another fight soon, perhaps at light-heavyweight, as it didn’t take him long at all to dispatch his prey last night.
#3. Joseph Holmes wastes no time in picking up his first UFC victory
To say that Joseph Holmes didn’t make any kind of impact in his UFC debut in January would be an understatement. In fact, many fans probably figured last night was his first trip to the octagon, so low-profile was his decision loss to Jamie Pickett.
‘Ugly Man Joe’ changed all of that last night, though, pulling off one of the night’s most explosive finishes by taking out Alen Amedovski. There was probably an argument, in fact, that he deserved a $50k performance bonus for his efforts.
The entire fight took just over one minute, and it was literally all Holmes. He threw a truly savage knee directly to the jaw of Amedovski to knock him down, and then pounced in an attempt to finish him off.
Most impressively, when Amedovski proved a little tricky to knock out, ‘Ugly Man Joe’ simply stayed calm, transitioned to his back, and choked him out instead. It was a smart move worthy of a highly experienced veteran rather than a relative neophyte.
Sure, a win over Amedovski – who was left with a UFC record of 0-3 following this loss – won’t move Holmes into the middleweight top ten or anything, but it was still an excellent and explosive showing from him, and at the very least, the fans will be excited to see him again now.
#2. Uros Medic surgically picks apart Omar Morales
Serbia’s Uros Medic is nicknamed ‘The Doctor’, and it’s safe to say that he lived up to that moniker perfectly last night with a surgically precise – and explosive – second round finish of Omar Morales in a lightweight bout.
While the first round of this bout wasn’t much to talk about – with Medic picking methodically at his opponent – that changed in the second when ‘The Doctor’ landed a clean left hand that dropped Morales instantly.
The Venezuelan fighter got to his feet, but Medic was then on him, using perfect timing and precision to land another left to hurt him equally badly. Morales stayed on his feet this time, but a quick combination dropped him for a second time, and that was enough for the fight to be stopped.
This was one of the best finishes we’d seen in the octagon for some time, as not only did Medic display killer instinct to finish Morales off, but he also stayed calm and didn’t look to rush into a wild flurry either. ‘The Doctor’ is now 2-1 in the UFC, and hopefully we’ll get to see him again soon.
#1. Chidi Njokuani moves to 2-0 in the UFC with a violent elbow
When he made his UFC debut in February, Chidi Njokuani instantly marked himself out as a fighter to watch in the middleweight division by sparking out Marc-Andre Barriault in just 16 seconds in what was one of the year’s most explosive finishes so far.
Somehow, though, ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ was able to top that finish last night, picking up another $50k bonus cheque in the process. Sure, it took him a little longer to dispatch Dusko Todorovic, but the way he took him out was simply insane.
After largely outfighting Todorovic in all areas – even hunting for a brabo choke when the fight hit the ground momentarily – he found himself in the clinch, and from there, he separated just enough to land a crushing right elbow to the temple.
Todorovic went down hard, his lights switched completely off, and referee Mark Smith was forced to step in without even needing Njokuani to follow it up.
Put simply, we haven’t seen a newcomer to the octagon perform in this kind of explosive fashion in a long time, and so the UFC should expect ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ to catch on as a major star very soon. Hopefully he can get back into the octagon again in the near future.
