5 best finishes from the stars of UFC Fight Night: Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig
This weekend sees the UFC head back to the Las Vegas APEX for a Fight Night event. While it’s short on name value, the show should still be fun.
That’s because UFC Fight Night: Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig features some of the promotion’s most lethal finishers in action, period. Will we see some violent finishes this weekend? Only time will tell, but based on the track record of the stars on offer, we should do.
Here are the five best finishes from the stars of UFC Fight Night: Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig.
#5. Jake Matthews vs. Andre Fialho – UFC 275
Australia’s Jake Matthews has his hands full this weekend with one of the hottest prospects in the welterweight division. Opponent Michael Morales has won his first three bouts inside the octagon and is a renowned knockout artist.
However, the last time ‘The Celtic Kid’ faced a hot prospect, he produced one of the best performances of his career.
Going into UFC 275 against Andre Fialho, few observers favored Matthews. Fialho was on a two-fight win streak and had dispatched both of those opponents via KO. Matthews, meanwhile, had not fought in well over a year.
Despite this, ‘The Celtic Kid’ displayed a remarkably improved boxing game, and cut the Portuguese fighter to shreds over two rounds, eventually knocking him out with a left hand and a follow-up flurry.
It was a tremendous showing from Matthews, who unfortunately hasn’t really been able to reproduce such a performance since. However, if he can beat Morales in a similar way this weekend, expect him to gain plenty of hype back again.
#4. Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant – UFC 251
The fight on this weekend’s main card between Luana Pinheiro and Amanda Ribas is one of the better ones on tap, as it features two top 10-ranked strawweights facing off.
While Pinheiro is actually ranked one spot above Ribas at No.9, though, it’s arguable that the latter holds the more impressive wins. One such victory came over the popular Paige VanZant back in 2020 in what proved to be VanZant’s final UFC appearance.
The fight lasted just over two minutes, with the Brazilian completely dominant. After some early strikes, she used a hip throw to toss VanZant to the ground, and then quickly got into a dominant position.
As soon as ’12 Gauge’ attempted to escape, Ribas quickly snatched up her arm, locked her into am armbar, and rolled into a belly-down position to force the tapout.
It was a great showing from Ribas, who was quickly elevated as a contender with her victory over a fighter with plenty of star power. If she wins this weekend, expect her to move into contention once again.
#3. Jordan Leavitt vs. Matt Wiman – UFC on ESPN 19
Jordan Leavitt, who faces Chase Hooper this weekend in a lightweight bout, is perhaps best remembered for his loss to Paddy Pimblett in the summer of 2022.
However, ‘The Monkey King’ made waves in his UFC debut back in December 2020, scoring a highlight reel finish for the ages against veteran Matt Wiman.
As the fight began, Leavitt quickly closed the distance before dropping for a double leg, then lifted Wiman into the air. Before ‘Handsome Matt’ could attempt an escape, Leavitt slammed him to the ground, knocking him senseless in an instant. ‘The Monkey King’ didn’t even have to follow up, instead celebrating with a quick dance before performing a split.
The whole fight took just 22 seconds and unsurprisingly earned Leavitt a $50k bonus, and while he hasn’t produced anything as good since, he’ll be hopeful of repeating the trick against Hooper this weekend.
#2. Brendan Allen vs. Andre Muniz – UFC Fight Night 220
If Brendan Allen can overcome Paul Craig in this weekend’s headliner, he should move into contention for the middleweight title. He’ll also have taken out one of the UFC’s more dangerous grapplers, too.
However, it’s fair to say that ‘All In’ has already pulled that trick off once, as he submitted notable Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Andre Muniz in his first headline bout back in February.
The two men were not expected to main event and were only elevated into the spot when headliner Nikita Krylov fell ill on the night.
It’s fair to say that Allen took full advantage of the spotlight he was offered, though.
While the first round saw ‘All In’ unsurprisingly look to keep things standing, where he landed the better shots than Muniz, the second round actually saw Allen outgrapple the Brazilian. He claimed top position and beat ‘Sergipano’ down with elbows, cutting him open.
The third round went even better for him, though, as he was able to take Muniz down and eventually found himself in back control, where he slapped on a rear-naked choke. Moments later, ‘Sergipano’ tapped out for the first time in his career.
Whether Allen can repeat the feat this weekend remains to be seen, but if he can, he’ll move onto a remarkable six-fight win streak and should find himself in the upper echelon of the top ten, too.
#1. Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill – UFC 263
Paul Craig has been with the UFC for a long time now, dating all the way back to his octagon debut in 2016. It’s fair to say that he’s produced his fair share of excellent wins over this time, and could move into middleweight title contention with a win this weekend.
However, ‘Bearjew’ actually holds wins over two former UFC titleholders in the form of Shogun Rua and Jamahal Hill. It’s arguable that his 2021 win over Hill, in fact, stands as his best-ever finish.
Given that Craig had struggled to deal with heavy hitters before, many fans expected ‘Sweet Dreams’, who was unbeaten at the time, to dispatch him with relative ease.
Instead, as Hill attempted to fire strikes off, ‘Bearjew’ clinched with him, pulled guard, and almost instantly locked up a pretty tight armbar variant. Hill attempted to escape, but it soon became clear that he was in trouble – not least when his arm appeared to hyperextend, dislocating his elbow in the process.
‘Sweet Dreams’ refused to tap, though, despite his arm dangling downwards, and so instead, Craig smashed him with unanswered elbows to the head until the referee mercifully stepped in.
Sure, the finish was a nasty one due to a dangerously late stoppage, but it was still a total highlight reel moment for Craig. It also remains the only loss on Hill’s record, too.