5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Rob Font vs. Jose Aldo

Rafael Fiziev was responsible for the most explosive moment of last night's UFC Fight Night
Rafael Fiziev was responsible for the most explosive moment of last night's UFC Fight Night

#4. Chris Curtis produces his second upset in a month and stops Brendan Allen

Chris Curtis stunned everyone with his upset stoppage of Brendan Allen
Chris Curtis stunned everyone with his upset stoppage of 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

Manel Kape dished out a quick beating to take out Zhalgas Zhumagulov
Manel Kape dished out a quick beating to take out Zhalgas Zhumagulov

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.

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