Cory Sandhagen rebounded from his first UFC loss with a highlight-reel knockout win over former No. 1 bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes during a UFC Fight Night card on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
Sandhagen connected on a spinning wheel kick that dropped Moraes early in the second round of their main event bout and he followed up with punches to secure the win and improve to 13-2 in mixed martial arts.
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Sandhagen was submitted by Aljamain Sterling in 88 seconds at UFC 250 back in June. That win earned Sterling a title shot against current unbeaten champ Petr Yan later this year.
Moraes holds a 2017 knockout win over Sterling, so even though Sandhagen was finished quickly by Sterling, beating Moraes is a huge feather in Sandhagen’s cap that keeps his name swirling in the title picture. Yan vs. Sterling is expected to take place at UFC 256 on Dec. 12 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Earlier on the card, middleweight Joaquin Buckley went viral thanks to a spinning back kick knockout of previously undefeated Impa Kasanganay. The finish immediately garnered praise for being a new contender for greatest knockout in UFC history.
JOAQUIN BUCKLEY WITH THE KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR!!!! #UFCFightIsland5 #InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/z6IDSbWvi9
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) October 10, 2020
Here are the complete results from the event:
MAIN CARD
— Cory Sandhagen def. Marlon Moraes by TKO
— Edson Barboza def. Makwan Amirkhani by unanimous decision
— Marcin Tybura def. Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision
— Dricus du Plessis def. Markus Perez by knockout
— Tom Aspinall def. Alan Baudot by TKO
— llia Topuria def. Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Tom Breese def. KB Bhullar by TKO
— Chris Daukaus def. Rodrigo Nascimento by knockout
— Joaquin Buckley def. Impa Kasanganay by knockout
— Tony Kelley def. Ali AlQaisi by unanimous decision
— Giga Chikadze def. Omar Morales by unanimous decision
— Tracy Cortez def. Stephanie Egger by unanimous decision
— Tagir Ulanbekov def. Bruno Gustavo da Silva by unanimous decision
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