5 most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev
With a sneakily deep card on offer, hopes were high for UFC Fight Night: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev.
For the most part, this UFC Fight Night event delivered hugely with plenty of violence on offer, from brutal knockouts to slick submissions.
Essentially, there was something for everyone here. While the headline fight didn’t deliver a classic, this show was still well worth watching.
With that in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC Fight Night: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev.
#5. Cody Brundage survives an onslaught to pick up his first UFC win
Dana White’s Contender Series alumni Cody Brundage didn’t exactly set the world alight in his UFC debut last September. He was comprehensively outpointed by Nick Maximov and lost a decision.
Last night, it didn’t look like his fight with Dalcha Lungiambula was going to end any better for him. After a brief feeling-out period, Lungiambula wasted no time in opening up with some heavy punches to Brundage, who looked close to being out of the fight on more than one occasion.
Incredibly, though, he was somehow able to hang on in the fight, despite taking what appeared to be a criminal amount of damage. Evidently, Lungiambula sensed that he couldn’t put Brundage away in the first round – and decided to switch things up with a takedown.
It turned out to be a massive error in judgment. In a truly insane moment, Brundage was somehow able to counter, grab onto a guillotine choke, and sink it in tightly. The South African fighter attempted to escape but, moments later, was forced to tap out.
To say Brundage stole a victory from the jaws of defeat here would be an understatement. The official statistics stated that he ate an insane 29 significant strikes before managing to submit Lungiambula.
Whether or not he can go onto more success in the octagon is a question mark, but for now, Brundage will be a happy man – particularly as the finish landed him a nice $50k bonus cheque.