Chidi Njokuani delivered one other beautiful knockout so as to add to his résumé after he dusted off Elizeu Zaleski in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 104 co-main occasion.
In a struggle that featured two dynamic strikers, Njokuani persistently obtained the higher of the exchanges after which pulled off a brutal knee strike up the center that despatched Zaleski all the way down to the canvas. Njokuani shortly adopted him to the bottom the place he unloaded a sequence of devastating elbows that compelled the referee to cease the struggle.
Watch the end under.
The top got here at 2:19 within the second spherical.
“I’m actual blissful,” Njokuani mentioned after the win. “I used to be coming in right here anticipating a three-round warfare. I don’t what the hell I hit him up nevertheless it ended up ending the struggle early. I used to be ready for the spins. But it surely simply sort of went precisely how we educated for this.”
Because the taller, longer fighter, Njokuani expertly used his measurement to maintain Zaleski away, though the Brazilian did membership him with a giant proper hook early within the first spherical that shocked him momentarily. Whereas the punch clearly caught Njokuani off guard, he recovered and reset earlier than he started punishing dos Santos with a sequence of kicks to the physique and legs.
Within the second spherical, Njokuani continued to point out superior placing when Zaleski made the ill-fated mistake of getting too near him and the veteran knockout artist noticed a gap to seize the pinnacle and produce it down to fulfill his knee. The shot landed flush and Zaleski fell to the bottom in a heap.
Njokuani adopted with just a few extra pictures and the referee rushed in to avoid wasting Zaleski from additional hurt.
It was a nasty end from Njokuani, however the efficiency was nonetheless marred after he missed weight for the struggle on Friday. The 36-year-old veteran took time after the struggle to apologize whereas hoping this newest win will get him nearer to ranked competitors.
“That weight-miss state of affairs, I used to be prepared to chop that pound however the physician mentioned no,” Njokuani mentioned. “I’ll make up for that. It ain’t going to occur once more. I want a high 15 opponent. Give me any person. Anyone can get it.”
