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#2. Cheyanne Buys capitalizes on her co-main event status with an excellent KO
If Jared Gooden took full advantage of an unexpected opportunity at UFC Vegas 33, the exact same thing could be said for Cheyanne Buys.
Her fight with Gloria de Paula was a strange main card choice given the poor UFC records of both strawweights, but somehow it ended up being elevated into the co-main event slot when Kyung Ho Kang’s clash with Rani Yahya was pulled at the last minute.
Thankfully though, Buys made sure that UFC fans would be talking about the fight for a while at least by knocking de Paula out in the first round with a phenomenal head kick and some follow-up shots.
This wasn’t a regular head kick, either. It took expert timing to land, as de Paula was attempting to get to her feet at the time, meaning had Buys caught her at the wrong moment, she probably would’ve been disqualified.
In the end, though, UFC fans were treated to one of the wildest knockouts in recent memory, and Buys came away $50k richer and with her first UFC victory, in the co-main event of a show nonetheless. It doesn’t really get much better than that.
#1. Melsik Baghdasaryan introduces himself to the UFC with a bang
Another fight elevated on the card was the featherweight clash between UFC debutants Melsik Baghdasaryan and Collin Anglin. The clash was initially set for the preliminary card before being shifted up, and UFC fans were definitely glad of that decision.
Baghdasaryan looked incredible from the opening moments of the fight, walking Anglin down and blitzing him with rapid-fire strikes that clearly won him the first round. Anglin hung in there and landed some shots of his own, but it was clear that he was outgunned.
And in the second round, Baghdasaryan made sure everyone knew who the better striker was, landing a genuinely brutal head kick that knocked his fellow UFC debutant completely out cold.
The shot was a seriously explosive one, largely because Baghdasaryan appeared to throw it from nowhere, leaving Anglin with zero time to even attempt a block.
Quite how far this talented prospect can go in such a loaded division is a major question mark, of course. But for now at least, this was a phenomenal way for him to begin his UFC career.
