UFC 296 video: Andre Fili lands picture-perfect right hand for first-round knockout

17/12/2023 01:28

Andre Fili waited a long time for his latest knockout.

With a perfectly timed right hand, Fili scored his first finish since July 2019 as he put down Lucas Almeida in a preliminary featherweight bout Saturday at UFC 296 in Las Vegas.

Watch the knockout sequence below.

From the start, the more experienced Fili controlled the action as Almeida struggled to close the distance and land anything substantial outside of the occasional leg kick. Fili's confidence in the standup duel continued to grow as the action progressed, until he stepped in and blasted Almeida with a right hand on the money, while at the same time slipping Almeida's counter-strike.

A dazed Almeida fell back to the canvas and Fili followed up with ground strikes until referee Jason Herzog called for the stoppage. The official time of the finish was 3:32 into Round 1.

Fili improved to 11-9 (1 NC) inside the UFC octagon and bounced back from a recent decision loss to Nathaniel wood.

Afterward, an emotional Fili dedicated the win to a close friend who recently died as well as his dog, Harley, who he had to put down shortly before leaving for Las Vegas.

Almeida falls to 1-2 as a UFC fighter after suffering the first knockout of his 17-fight career.