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There didn’t seem to be much fanfare around UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo. In the end, a surprisingly strong card delivered some serious action.
This UFC Fight Night featured a number of explosive finishes, with just five of the 13 bouts on offer going the distance.
The overall excellence of this show could be seen by the UFC’s bonus awards. They handed out a total of four $50k Performance of the Night bonuses as well as a Fight of the Night one too.
With this in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo.
#5. UFC veteran Clay Guida pulls off a stirring comeback to beat Leonardo Santos
One of the eternal questions of MMA stands around whether a submission win – rather than a brutal knockout – can actually be considered “explosive”. The answer is that it depends on the circumstances. Last night, Clay Guida’s comeback win over Leonardo Santos couldn’t be seen as anything but.
‘The Carpenter’ suffered a horrendous beating in the first round of the lightweight bout. Santos battered him with shots to the body and knees to the head, causing him to dive desperately for takedowns that never looked like they’d come.
Referee Keith Peterson could easily have been justified in stopping the fight on more than one occasion. However, perhaps trusting in Guida’s legendary toughness, he let the fight continue.
In the end, Peterson was basically justified in his decision. Santos completely blew up towards the end of the round after emptying his gas tank in his attempt to finish Guida, and had nothing left when the second round began.
Sure enough, Guida was able to capitalize, somehow taking the back of the legendary grappler before forcing him to submit to a rear naked choke.
To see ‘The Carpenter’ tap out such an accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist was incredible. When you consider what he survived beforehand, this was a truly tremendous victory for him.
#4. Chris Curtis produces his second upset in a month and stops Brendan Allen
Last month saw Chris Curtis make his UFC debut against one of the promotion’s best middleweight prospects in Phil Hawes. To the shock of basically everyone watching, Curtis surprised Hawes with his striking power and took him out in the first round.
Despite this, most fans were counting him out against Brendan Allen last night. Despite suffering a bad loss to Sean Strickland last year, ‘All In’ was still seen as one of the better prospects at 185lbs. It seemed likely that he’d deal with Curtis easily, particularly as ‘Action Man’ was taking the fight on late notice.
Incredibly, though, that idea couldn’t have been further from the truth.
After a tricky first round that saw Allen largely outwork him in all areas, Curtis needed to change things up in the second. He did so by forcing the initiative by marching forward with power punches.
Allen was clearly rattled by the approach. As the round neared the halfway point, ‘Action Man’ blasted him with a one-two that hurt ‘All In’ badly.
He stumbled for a moment, and that was the opening that Curtis needed to wade in and smash him with more strikes, finally finishing him off with a pair of knees.
This was another huge – and explosive – upset from Curtis, giving him his second win in this manner in just one month. Whether his unlikely seven-fight win streak can continue in 2022 is a question mark, but for now, he’s definitely made his mark in the UFC.
#3: Manel Kape shows off the fastest hands in the UFC’s flyweight division
Striker Manel Kape might not be the most complete fighter in the UFC’s flyweight division, as he showed in his losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. However, the native of Angola may well have the division’s fastest hands.
He showed that off last night, as he took out a tough opponent in the form of Zhalgas Zhumagulov with an explosive first round blitz. Somehow it wasn’t enough to earn him a $50k bonus cheque from the UFC.
Kape wasted absolutely no time here, charging out of his corner with bad intentions from the off. Although Zhumagulov was able to avoid the rush early on, it was only temporary.
Eventually, Kape connected with a crushing right hand that dropped Zhumagulov. While the native of Kazakhstan was able to get to his feet, he simply couldn’t fend off the abuse that followed.
Kape closed him down on the fence and unleashed a remarkably quick flurry reminiscent of Vitor Belfort or Phil Baroni. Eventually, Zhumagulov dropped to the ground as referee Keith Peterson stepped in.
This was an excellent win for Kape. While he might not become UFC flyweight champion in 2022 as he’s promised to, he’ll definitely make for some fun fights.
#2. Jamahal Hill takes out Jimmy Crute in quick fashion
Last night’s battle of UFC light heavyweight prospects Jamahal Hill and Jimmy Crute seemed to be flying under the radar somewhat. This was perhaps because after a one-sided loss to Paul Craig, the bloom appeared to be off Hill’s rose.
Well, after his performance last night, it may well be blooming again.
Crute had always shown plenty of toughness in his previous UFC outings, most notably against Anthony Smith in his last bout. Regardless, he was blown away in quick and explosive fashion here.
Hill opened the fight with a right hand that knocked Crute down. While he couldn’t finish the Aussie right away, it was clear that he’d found his range.
Sure enough, in the next exchange of the fight, Hill cracked him with a right hand that dropped him again. One hammer fist was all it took to shut Crute’s lights out for good.
This was a quick and phenomenal knockout that should move Hill right back into the column of potential title contenders at 205lbs. It should probably be recognized as the best win of his UFC career so far as well.
#1. Rafael Fiziev delivers the biggest win of his UFC career over Brad Riddell
Last night’s co-headline bout between Rafael Fiziev and Brad Riddell was expected to be a slugfest to remember. The two lightweights lived up to expectations by throwing down in exciting fashion.
The former teammates refused to back down from the off, exchanging blows at a high pace. While the first two rounds were very close, by the beginning of the second it was becoming clear that Fiziev’s speed was giving him an advantage.
Sure enough, with Riddell backing off in the third round, Fiziev closed in and was able to hit him with a spectacular spinning wheel kick that connected firmly with his head.
‘Quake’ didn’t go down, but he was frozen in time. Before Fiziev was really able to follow the shot up, referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop proceedings in what was a truly excellent call.
Considering this was the first time Riddell had ever been stopped by strikes and was ranked No.12 in the UFC lightweight division, it’s easy to view this as the biggest win of Fiziev’s career.
Hopefully the UFC gives him the step up he needs in 2022, because on this evidence, he could well make some genuine noise next year.
