5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez

UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez might’ve been largely in the shadow of the two big pay-per-view events that came before it, but it produced some insane action.

With a total of nine finishes in eleven bouts on the card, as well as an absolute war in the main event, this UFC Fight Night quickly became an instant classic.

So with plenty of candidates to choose from, which fighters produced the most explosive moments of the night overall?

Here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez.

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#5: Joel Alvarez breaks out in the UFC with a brutal knockout

Joel Alvarez picked up his first UFC knockout by viciously stopping Thiago Moises

There wasn’t much hype around Spanish lightweight Joel Alvarez leading into last night’s event, but in hindsight, maybe there should’ve been.

‘El Fenomeno’ came into the fight having gone 3-1 in the UFC, but he’d finished his last three opponents with some pretty slick grappling. Matched with Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Thiago Moises, fans would’ve been forgiven for expecting a real grappling war on the mat.

However, Alvarez surprised everyone by unleashing his striking for the first time in his UFC career, and the results were unexpectedly devastating.

After a brief feeling-out period, Alvarez backed Moises up with some long punches, and then suddenly turned up the heat, cracking him with a vicious standing elbow.

Moises was clearly stunned by the shot, and could do little else but cover up as ‘El Fenomeno’ opened up with relentless aggression, hitting the Brazilian with heavy punches and more elbows, one of which opened a bad cut on his forehead.

Moises managed to remain standing under the barrage, but he was clearly done, and when referee Marc Goddard stepped in to call the fight off, there were no complaints.

This was an eye-opening performance from Alvarez, as few UFC fans could’ve predicted he’d have such an explosive striking style to go with his slick grappling.

If he can sort out his weight-cutting issues – he missed the 155lbs mark for the second time in a row prior to this fight – he could develop into a very special fighter indeed.

#4: Sean Woodson punishes Collin Anglin’s body in his first UFC finish

Sean Woodson looked excellent in his win over Collin Anglin

Despite standing at 6’2” and possessing a ridiculous 78” reach, Sean Woodson competes in the UFC’s featherweight division – making him an almost freakish sight for any opponent that faces him.

Unfortunately, ‘The Sniper’ hadn’t quite made the most of his physical gifts in the octagon prior to last night, edging wins over Kyle Bochniak and Youssef Zalal while dropping a submission loss to Julian Erosa in a disappointing showing last summer.

However, Woodson looked phenomenal last night, finishing Collin Anglin with some seriously slick boxing, and if he can continue on this trajectory, he could yet make some noise at 145lbs.

Woodson looked on from the start of last night’s fight, peppering Anglin with stiff punches that ensured he could never really get into range to hit ‘The Sniper’ back. However, it was when he began to dig to the body that the real success came.

Anglin looked hurt by practically the first body shot that Woodson threw, and from there, ‘The Sniper’ began to target the area, constantly digging hooks to either side, forcing Anglin to back up.

When a body shot clearly hurt him and forced him on the retreat, Woodson simply closed him down – complete with a nagging finger-wag – and then battered him again, causing him to wilt from the pain.

Body shot stoppages are unfortunately few and far between in the UFC, despite their clear effectiveness, but Woodson made the most of them here with one of the most explosive performances of the night.

While he didn’t receive a $50k bonus for his troubles, one can only hope he was rewarded handsomely for such a beautiful stoppage.

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#3: Khaos Williams steals the “thunder” of Miguel Baeza with a savage finish

Khaos Williams turned out the lights on Miguel Baeza

Outside of the war between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez in the headliner – a war which somehow didn’t produce an explosive finish – last night’s best fight was probably the welterweight battle between Khaos Williams and Miguel Baeza.

The two men went toe-to-toe from the off in their clash, swinging heavy leather at one another with bad intentions for the first two rounds with neither really gaining a clear-cut advantage.

This was such an exciting fight that even a frantic leglock attempt from Baeza in the first round – something that rarely produces a finish and often leaves one open for damage – felt like a genuinely dramatic moment.

However, while Baeza appeared to be slightly ahead of ‘The Ox Fighter’ on the scorecards going into the final round, it was Williams who uncorked a wildly explosive finish to pick up the win.

Williams threw a wild combination at Baeza as he attempted a low kick, and while the first two punches didn’t land, the third did – sending ‘Caramel Thunder’ crashing down to the mat. From there, Williams followed up with a few more shots, and the fight was unsurprisingly stopped.

Baeza did protest the stoppage after the fight, but there’s simply no way he was in a fit state to continue, and referee Chris Tognoni made the right call.

As for Williams, this was easily the biggest win of his UFC career to date. Not only did he steal the thunder of a vaunted prospect in the welterweight division, but he also took home a bonus $50k for his knockout, too.

#2: Marcos Rogerio de Lima becomes the first fighter in a decade to stop Ben Rothwell in the UFC

Marcos Rogerio de Lima became the first man to stop Ben Rothwell in over a decade

The heavyweight bout between Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ben Rothwell seemed like a curious choice for last night’s co-main event, but in the end, the gamble paid off for the UFC as ‘Pezao’ produced a wild knockout.

Few fans were really giving the Brazilian a chance. De Lima had always struggled against bigger foes previously. With his underrated submission game and iron jaw, Ben Rothwell looked like a particularly tricky out for him.

However, the Brazilian clearly figured that the best way to go would be to throw caution to the wind and simply attack Rothwell with everything in his arsenal in the fight’s opening minutes.

Incredibly, the approach worked. De Lima caught Rothwell with a huge right hand with just seconds gone, and with ‘Big Ben’ reeling, he poured it on.

Sure, some of his punches didn’t actually land all that cleanly, but the ones that did had Rothwell on wobbly legs. While he somehow stayed on his feet, it was clear that he was done.

Referee Herb Dean has taken some slack for this stoppage, primarily from UFC President Dana White. By becoming the first man to stop Rothwell in over a decade, De Lima will take great confidence from his performance.

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#1: Song Yadong gets back on track with a beautiful KO

Song Yadong got firmly back on track with a violent knockout of Julio Arce

While it somehow wasn’t enough to earn him a $50k bonus award, the best knockout on offer last night from an visual point of view came from Song Yadong.

This explosive bantamweight was looking to get properly back on track after a loss to Kyler Phillips in March derailed his hype train somewhat, and he definitely did that, taking out Julio Arce in violent fashion to pick up his seventh UFC victory.

After just about edging a back-and-forth first round, Yadong came into the second like a man on a mission, and it was clear that Arce was outgunned on the feet.

Moments later, ‘The Kung Fu Monkey’ unleashed a brutal head kick that left Arce wobbling back towards the fence, badly hurt.

From there, the Chinese fighter smelt blood – and poured it on with a series of explosive punches that eventually caused Arce to crumple to the mat, ending his night in violent fashion.

The win made Yadong the first man to ever finish Arce in his MMA career, and should signal to the rest of the UFC bantamweight division that he’s ready for another attempt to climb to the top of the ladder.

Even if he can’t do that, with the ability to produce finishes like this, he should be around in the UFC as a fan favorite for a long time.