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With a number of the UFC’s more exciting fighters in action, hopes were high that last night’s Fight Night event would produce some fun fights and explosive finishes.
For the most part, UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic delivered the goods, with a number of vicious knockouts and submissions on offer to whet the appetite of the fans.
Sure, nobody will be talking about this show once we roll around to the bigger pay-per-views that are set for a few weeks’ time, but in all honesty, that doesn’t matter.
Here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic.
#5. Andre Petroski picks up his third UFC finish with a slick anaconda choke
Prior to last night’s opening bout between Andre Petroski and Nate Diaz protégé Nick Maximov, the latter had bragged to anyone who would listen about his grappling skills – even stating that he could take out Khamzat Chimaev if the two were to fight.
To be fair, given that he was 2-0 in the octagon and 8-0 overall, Maximov’s confidence might’ve been understandable. After last night, though, it’s unlikely that he’ll be quite so outspoken again. The Diaz protégé was thoroughly whitewashed and submitted in just over a minute by Petroski, who should now have a lot of hype attached to his name.
Like Maximov, Petroski had gone 2-0 in the octagon prior to last night, and quite why he was such an underdog was a bit of a mystery. In the end, though, he proved those betting lines entirely wrong.
Interestingly, Maximov was basically the architect of his own downfall here. He made a sloppy attempt at a single leg takedown, and when Petroski sprawled, Maximov’s neck was far too open. Indeed, Petroski quickly snared up an anaconda choke, locked it down, and hit a gator roll to leave his opponent unconscious.
This was a genuinely excellent win for the TUF 29 veteran, and as he took little to no damage here, the promotion should probably fulfill his request to take another fight as soon as possible. He’s got the momentum now, after all.
#4. Davey Grant deals with Louis Smolka in the night’s best fight overall
Last night’s ‘Fight of the Night’ award went to Katlyn Chookagian and Amanda Ribas, but while that clash was decent enough, it’s arguable that the bout which produced the most explosive action was Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka.
However, the likelihood is that the UFC didn’t go with that fight primarily because it was somewhat one-sided in Grant’s favor. Smolka hung tough, but always looked outgunned by his British foe, and in the end, it came as no surprise to see him put away in the third round.
The first round saw Grant do the majority of his damage, as he hurt the Hawaiian with some nasty calf kicks and then dropped him with a stiff jab. Smolka’s toughness allowed him to hang in there and survive the stanza.
‘The Last Samurai’ did a little better in the second round, as despite eating more clean strikes, he was able to take Grant down and attempt a couple of submissions on ‘Dangerous Davey’, although he did not come close to finishing.
In the third round, though, Grant got back to business – and when he dropped Smolka with another low kick, he was quick to pounce, knocking him completely out with an explosive combination of punches on the ground.
#3. Ryan Spann gets back into UFC title contention with a quick submission
When he took out Misha Cirkunov with a flurry of punches just over a year ago, it looked like Ryan Spann would quickly make his way into contention for the UFC light-heavyweight title. ‘Superman’ was 5-1 in the octagon, had finished three of his opponents, and looked like a red-hot prospect.
A bad loss last September to Anthony Smith threatened to completely derail him, though, and in the eyes of many fans, the bloom was off his rose. However, after last night, it’s safe to say that Spann should be considered back in UFC title contention.
In what was a wild – and admittedly, sloppy – fight, ‘Superman’ was able to take out the dangerous Ion Cutelaba, latching onto a high-angled guillotine choke to force him to tap out after some truly frenetic action.
This was the very definition of an explosive submission as there was hardly any set-up; Spann simply pounced on Cutelaba’s neck as he stood, locked up the choke and violently forced him onto his back for the tapout.
Detractors would probably say that Cutelaba played into Spann’s hands with his tactics, but even so, ‘Superman’ dealt with a very difficult opponent in impressive fashion here, and should be rewarded with another big fight next time out.
#2. Michael Johnson looks back to his best in his win over Alan Patrick
Given the trajectories of their two careers in the UFC since, it’s wild to remember what happened back in September 2016 when Michael Johnson faced Dustin Poirier in the headliner of Fight Night 94. The fight saw the two men exchange on the feet – and Johnson proved to have the faster hands, as he turned the lights out on ‘The Diamond’ in just over a minute.
Since then, though, while Poirier was able to rise through the ranks, claim UFC gold and even pick up two wins over Conor McGregor, Johnson had struggled. Prior to last night, ‘The Menace’ had picked up just two wins, and came into last night’s bout with Alan Patrick off the back of four straight losses.
A fifth one against the Brazilian probably would’ve seen his octagon career come to an end, but instead, Johnson rolled back the years and picked up his first finish since that knockout over Poirier in remarkably similar fashion.
Sure, it took him to the second round to deliver it, but to see ‘The Menace’ uncork a beautiful combination – landing to the body and the head of ‘Nuguette’ before finishing him with a vicious left hook – was massively impressive.
Given he’s now 35 years old, whether this win can result in a career resurgence is anyone’s guess, but there’s no disputing that it was one of last night’s most explosive finishes.
#1. Manuel Torres debuts in the UFC in style with a brutal KO
Last night’s most explosive finish belonged to UFC debutant Manuel Torres, who made a real splash by violently taking out opponent Frank Camacho in just three and a half minutes. ‘El Loco’, who already had five knockout finishes to his name, looked genuinely excellent here.
From the off, he traded punches with Camacho, and while ‘The Crank’ was swinging wildly for the most part, Torres looked calmer under fire and delivered the cleaner shots, hurting his opponent with an early uppercut.
Camacho did recover well, but from there, ‘El Loco’ was on him, throwing blistering combinations until finally, a left-right two-piece sat ‘The Crank’ down. Torre didn’t even need to follow up as it was clear Camacho was done, and Herb Dean quickly stepped in to stop things.
This was a genuinely excellent debut for Torres, who landed over 70% of the strikes he threw, and while he’ll face tougher tests than Camacho in the future, it should be fun to see how far he can go in the lightweight division.
