At the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, a rising talent echoed one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the history of the sport.
Edson Barboza has one of the most ferocious highlight reels of anyone who has stepped inside the Octagon.
The Brazilian may appear only once on our top 5 scariest UFC knockouts of all time list, but frankly, you’d be hard pressed to rank his top 5 alone.
Any fighter that is able to remind fans of Barboza is sure to impress and that’s exactly what one of the competitors on Road to UFC did.
Series four of the competition is currently underway, with some new ‘PFL-esque’ rule changes, where one standout finish stole the first day of fights.
Keiichiro Nakamura advances in Road to UFC with stunning one-shot knee knockout
On the first day of fights for Road to UFC series 4, Keiichiro Nakamura advanced to the featherweight semi-finals with a devastating one-shot knockout.
After Nakamura took the first round on all three scorecards, Eoh Jin Park looked to press the pace in the second but he got overzealous when shooting in for a takedown against the fence.
His opponent threw a knee up the middle, faceplanting Park to extend the victor’s winning streak to six, with each victory coming via stoppage.
‘That knee came straight from a highlight reel,’ wrote one fan on social media with another calling it ‘straight nasty’.
Several other reactions referred to the strike as ‘beautiful’ while others were just happy to see some fights taking place on a Thursday.
‘Good. Night. That knee was beautiful.’
‘Can’t lie, I completely forgot this was taking place today, beautiful knee though.’
‘Nothing better than violence at 9am!’
‘That was an incredible knee strike by Nakamura! I’m totally hooked on these fights.’
One fan hit the nail on the head when stating that the finish reminded them of one of Edson Barboza’s iconic one-shot knockouts.
At the UFC Fight Night event that took place in April of 2023 in Kansas City, headlined by Max Holloway vs Arnold Allen, Barboza stopped Billy Quarantillo with a similar knee when his back was against the cage.
Keiichiro Nakamura advances to the featherweight semi-finals with the bracket taking shape
Following his remarkable knockout win, Keiichiro Nakamura will feature in the featherweight semi-finals that are set to take place when the UFC returns to Shanghai for a Fight Night event on August 23.
Japan’s Nakamura will face the experienced Kaiwen Li, who stopped his opponent, in the second round having also featured on the show last year.
The winner of their matchup will go on to face whoever comes out on top when Australia’s Sebastian Szalay takes on South Korea’s Chang Min Yoon after both men recorded decision wins.
Considering that fighters will now receive points which will influence the value of the contracts they get offered, Nakamura will have certainly earned himself a pay rise with that knockout if he can make it all the way.