A rising star at 155-pounds produced the highlight of the night inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The main event of UFC 313 ended in a somewhat controversial decision as Magomed Ankalaev dethroned Alex Pereira to win the light heavyweight title.
One thing that fight fans could agree on was the PPV main card opening with one of the best knockouts in recent history, courtesy of Mauricio Ruffy.
Ruffy stopped King Green in the first round with a devastating spinning wheel kick knockout to earn his third consecutive win inside the Octagon.
In what many believed would be an acid test for the Brazilian star, the Fighting Nerds competitor passed this hurdle with flying colors.
Demetrious Johnson warns King Green of head kick knockout before the fight starts
In his UFC 313 reactions video, former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson kicks things off with the main card opener where he highlighted the dangerous style of King Green.
The 50-fight veteran is known for having his hands by his sides as he encourages opponents to try and hit him, banking on his speed and reactions to avoid shots and land counters of his own.
‘Mighty Mouse’ admitted that this gives him some major concerns about Green’s defensive capabilities despite his trademark style making him an exciting fighter.
“Bobby (King) Green has a very unique style. He comes in there with his hands down, always baiting you. Like I always said, I’m not the biggest fan when you have your hands down because if someone throws a high kick or somebody punches you, you got to bring your hands up to block.”
When the first round started, Johnson laughed at Green having his hands so low, warning that he could be susceptible to a head kick despite his recent losses coming via different methods.
“F—— Bobby Green with his hands down, oh f— man. Someone’s gonna kick him and he’s going to f—— pay for that.”
Just over 2 minutes into the first round, Mauricio Ruffy landed the shot that closed the show on his opponent, pocketing a performance of the night bonus for a highlight reel spinning wheel kick that faceplanted the 38-year-old.
In Johnson’s immediate analysis of the fight, he referenced how a similar thing happened to Jiri Prochazka in his UFC 303 rematch with Alex Pereira where the challenger didn’t have quick enough reactions to block a head kick.
“Damn! Like I always tell you guys man, when you have your hands down, Jiri Prochazka same thing, he had his hands down, guy throws a head kick, gets knocked the f— out. Bobby Green, he’s known to do that.”
King Green says he’ll be back but likely won’t change his style
King Green has already said that he’ll be back in a video statement on his loss to Mauricio Ruffy which makes three first-round defeats in his last four outings.
Despite Green being susceptible to high kicks, you rarely see fighters take advantage of this but Ruffy is a very dangerous and creative striker.
Johnson broke down the finish later on in the video as he explained why the veteran’s usual defensive techniques didn’t work on this occasion.
“Yes, you can move faster and pop your hand, pop that jab quick but when you’re going against a guy who’s quicker or faster or younger, sometimes they throw spinning s— out of nowhere and that thing lands and it’s too hard to get your hands from your hips to your head.”
Despite this flaw in his overall game, as Green himself said, “there’s wins, there’s losses,” and it seems unlikely that he will change his style at this point in his career.