As a prelude to Dustin Poirier's main event tilt opposite Michael Johnson last night (Sat., Sept. 17, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 94 from State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight knockout specialists Uriah Hall and Derek Brunson went toe-to-toe in an exhilarating co-main event showdown. Hall, 32, was aiming to get back into the win column after losing to Robert Whittaker at UFC 193, while Brunson, 32, was looking to capture his fourth-straight, first-round finish.
After a brief scramble along the cage, Brunson chased Hall down and unloaded a left hand from hell. "Prime Time" fell to the ground, Brunson jumped on top and proceeded to launch heavy ground-and-pound. Despite few of those strikes getting through to Hall's chin, referee Herb Dean jumped in and awarded Brunson the first-round technical knockout finish.
The memorable stoppage can be seen below courtesy of UFC.
BOOM! @DerekBrunson flattens Uriah Hall with a monster left hand to get the TKO stoppage. #UFCHidalgo https://t.co/oxDXEsRv8y
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 18, 2016
With this win, Brunson moves even closer to the middleweight elite. Hall has never been put out like that on the feet before and truly represented a real challenge for the former Strikeforce standout. While the stoppage may have been slightly premature, Brunson yet again displayed the one-punch power that can take him far at 185 pounds.
For complete UFC Fight Night 94 results and analysis click here.