Five best finishes from stars of UFC Fight Night: Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot
This weekend, the UFC will visit Atlantic City for a Fight Night event, and the card features some genuinely talented - and vicious - fighters.
UFC Fight Night: Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot will see a number of the promotion's most dangerous finishers in action, so with any hope, we'll get plenty of highlight reel moments.
With a variety of wild moments to choose from, here are five of the best finishes from the stars of UFC Fight Night: Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot.
#5. Chidi Njokuani vs. Marc-Andre Barriault - UFC Fight Night 200
This weekend's main card will open with a welterweight bout pitting Chidi Njokuani against Rhys McKee. The bout will be Njokuani's first at 170 pounds, and he'll be hoping to arrest a slide that currently sits at three losses in a row.
However, if 'Chidi Bang Bang' can get back to the form he displayed when he initially emerged into the UFC in 2022, he should be just fine.
Notably, the native of Dallas exploded onto the scene in his octagon debut by dispatching veteran Marc-Andre Barriault in just 16 seconds.
One big right hand was essentially all it took, as Njokuani dropped Barriault in the fight's opening seconds and then finished him off with a follow-up barrage.
It was the first time that 'Power Bar' had ever been stopped in MMA, and unsurprisingly, it was enough to earn 'Chidi Bang Bang' a $50k bonus. It remains one of the best debut finishes in recent memory.
#4. Manon Fiorot vs. Victoria Leonardo - UFC on ESPN 20
Kickboxer Manon Fiorot will put her undefeated octagon record on the line this weekend when she fights Erin Blanchfield in a headline bout.
If 'The Beast' can come out on top, then it's highly likely that a flyweight title shot will be within her grasp.
One area that Fiorot hasn't been quite so good in is finishing her foes, as her last four octagon wins have gone the distance.
Thankfully, the French fighter burst onto the scene in her UFC debut with a truly vicious finish worthy of anyone's highlight reel.
Faced with Victoria Leonardo in a late-notice clash in early 2021, Fiorot picked her opponent apart over two rounds and then sealed the deal with a nasty combination. Starting with a head kick, 'The Beast' poured on the pain until Leonardo was stopped while out on her feet.
While the win somehow wasn't enough to earn her a performance bonus, it kickstarted a career that hasn't really slowed down yet and could take her all the way to the top.
#3. Erin Blanchfield vs. Molly McCann - UFC 281
Few fighters in the UFC right now live up to their nickname as much as Erin Blanchfield. Known as 'Cold Blooded,' the flyweight contender has run through six opponents in a row in the octagon and is on the verge of a title shot.
However, the fight that really demonstrated her skills and her ruthless nature came when she fought Molly McCann at UFC 281 in late 2022.
McCann was coming off a pair of big wins in her native UK and looked like a potential star for the promotion. Blanchfield, though, was looking to derail her in the most painful way possible.
She did just that inside a single round. Taking 'Meatball' down early, Blanchfield dominated her from the top, punishing her with strikes from a mounted crucifix before hunting for a finish.
Eventually, she found it, grabbing McCann's left arm into a kimura and wrenching it behind her back like she intended to tear it off. Thankfully, before she could, McCann tapped out.
The win was sheer domination from 'Cold Blooded', who showed that she was a level above not only 'Meatball', but most of the other fighters at 125 pounds, too.
#2. Chris Weidman vs. Mark Munoz - UFC on Fuel TV 4
There would be no prizes for guessing the most famous finish of Chris Weidman's career. 'The All-American' memorably knocked out Anderson Silva to claim the UFC middleweight title back in 2013, becoming a star in the process.
However, it's arguable that Weidman's most violent and highlight-worthy finish actually came a year before his title win, when he faced Mark Munoz in a Fight Night headliner.
At the time, Munoz was the more credentialed fighter, riding a four-fight win streak that included wins over Demian Maia and Chris Leben.
However, in a scarily dominant showing, Weidman dismantled and finished him in two rounds.
The first round saw 'The All-American' stun viewers by dominating Munoz - a highly-skilled wrestler - on the ground. After the round ended, 'The Filipino Wrecking Machine' knew he needed something special to win.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't get it. As he rushed forward to attack Weidman, 'The All-American' countered with a brutal elbow strike that dropped him face-first and sliced his head open in one blow.
Munoz was clearly done, but referee Josh Rosenthal somehow allowed Weidman to bounce his head off the mat with some follow-up shots before he stopped proceedings.
The finish was a terrifying one and marked Weidman out as the contender to watch at 185 pounds. In one more fight, he'd claim the gold.
#1. Joaquin Buckley vs. Impa Kasanganay - UFC Fight Night 179
Of all of the fighters set to feature in this weekend's UFC event, none have a more memorable finish to their name than welterweight Joaquin Buckley.
In 2020, 'New Mansa' uncorked a knockout so wild that it transformed him into an overnight sensation.
The clips of the finish went so viral that it practically transcended the UFC itself, being viewed over 65 million times. Rapper Kanye West even used the clip to promote the release of a new song.
The finish in question, of course, saw him dispatch Impa Kasanganay in the second round of their middleweight bout in Abu Dhabi.
The fight was flying under everyone's radar, but that changed when Buckley caught a low kick from his opponent and launched a jumping, spinning backkick.
The kick caught Kasanganay perfectly and switched his lights off instantly, sending him collapsing to the ground, as stiff as a corpse.
Unsurprisingly, the finish swept the year-end awards for 2020's best knockout and remains one of the UFC's all-time greatest finishes. Even if Buckley can never get close to reproducing it, he'll remain part of the octagon legend forever.