Number 15 ranked flyweight Charles Johnson continues to build his reputation as ‘the prospect killer’ after putting another young fighter to sleep.
On Saturday, the premier promotion returned to China for UFC Shanghai, headlined by light heavyweight’s Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang.
The Fight Night got off to a pretty crazy start and commentator Michael Bisping was left stunned when in one of the early fights, Xiao Long threw 35 elbows in the last 60 seconds of the fight in a comeback attempt.
Not long after that, fan favorite Michel Pereira suffered a horrendous loss when his head was bounced off the canvas by Kyle Daukaus.
Lone’er Kavanagh suffers brutal first ever loss
One of the fights on the undercard that fans were most looking forward to was a flyweight clash between exciting prospect Lone’er Kavanagh and Charles Johnson.
‘InnerG’ was on an extremely impressive run, picking up wins over the likes of Azat Maksum, Sumudaerji and even knocking out Joshua Van.
Kavanagh on the other hand was coming into the bout undefeated and hoping to make his way into the flyweight rankings with his third UFC win in a row since earning a contract on the Contender Series.
And early in the fight, it seemed as though the 26-year-old was going to sail onto another impressive win as early in the fight, he was landing heavy shots on Johnson at will.
Within the first few minutes of round one, he connected with a huge left hook which caused irritation for Johnson who continuously wiped at his eye.
‘InnerG’ made it out of round one, though, and looked to control the pace of the fight in round two. Despite that, Kavanagh still did the better job of landing the heavier shots, until the end of the round when Johnson landed a huge right hook on the chin of Kavanagh, sinking him to the ground.
As soon as the hook landed it was clear the 26-year-old was out, but Johnson made sure with a few ground-and-pound strikes, once again beating another prospect and being labeled the ‘prospect killer’ by the broadcast team.
What is next for Charles Johnson?
Throughout his UFC tenure, Johnson has continuously showcased his undeniable heart and determination, consistently coming from behind to score wins.
With such a solid gas-tank, Johnson is more suited to five round fights, and it is fair to say, he has likely earned himself the opportunity to headline a Fight Night event.
UFC veteran Tim Elliot recently picked up a huge win, and a main event between the two fighters could make a lot of sense next.