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Jimi Manuwa capped off an action-packed night in London with a highlight reel finish over Corey Anderson to earn his second straight knockout victory in the UFC.
Manuwa is best known for his massive power on the feet, and the London native did not disappoint after stalking Anderson around the Octagon for the majority of the first round, just waiting to find an opening for his punches.
The beginning of the end came after Manuwa clipped Anderson with a short punch that dropped the former Ultimate Fighter winner to his knee for a brief moment, but that gave the 37-year-old knockout artist all the confidence he needed to put the fight away.
Manuwa continued to press forward before unleashing a hellish left hand that connected flush and sent Anderson to the floor in a heap before the referee rushed in to stop the fight at just 3:05 of the opening round.
#UFCLondon delivered on #UFCFIGHTPASS!
Watch the replay anytime: https://t.co/dJvBEzfQOm pic.twitter.com/MOeZVsFRt7
— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) March 18, 2017
Going into the night, Manuwa was one of the biggest favorites on the card according to fantasy players, with 76 percent picking him to win in the main event and a whopping 83 percent selecting him to get the job done by knockout. Manuwa certainly did his part with a nasty first-round finish to notch his second win in a row and fifth victory in the UFC by way of knockout.
In the co-main event, Gunnar Nelson looked better than ever as he nearly knocked out Alan Jouban on the feet before the grappling ace finished the fight with a guillotine choke on the ground. Nelson was another heavy favorite, with 70 percent of fantasy players picking him against Jouban and another 65 percent saying he would win by submission.
Nelson proved those fantasy players correct, although he very nearly put a stop to the fight with strikes before wrapping up another submission victory on the ground.
While the main and co-main events both ended with the favorites getting wins, Marlon Vera pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the night after he finished local favorite Brad Pickett with a stunning head kick knockout in the third round of their bantamweight matchup on Saturday. Vera accepted the fight on just a week’s notice, which resulted in only 22 percent of fantasy players picking him to get the win. Still, Vera came through with his biggest win to date while Pickett called it a career while saying an emotional goodbye to his hometown crowd in London.
Another massive upset kicked off the main card as Arnold Allen pulled off a decision victory over Makwan Amirkhani after only 29 percent of fantasy players picked him to win.
The featured fight on the prelim portion of the card once again swung the pendulum back towards the favorites with Joe Duffy earning a unanimous decision win over Reza Madadi. Duffy was an overwhelming favorite, with 88 percent of fantasy players picking him to win, although he did end up going to a decision after 40 percent of players said he would finish the fight by submission.
Heavyweight slugger Tim Johnson also came through with a win on Saturday over Daniel Omielanczuk after 64 percent of fantasy players picked the American, while Marc Diakiese pulled off one of the most memorable knockouts in recent memory, a one-punch finish over Teemu Packalen after an overwhelming majority of players selected him going into the night. And with 89 percent of fantasy players in her corner, second-time UFC fighter Lina Lansberg also got a very controversial win over newcomer Lucie Pudilova in a three-round battle that kicked off the event.
As for the underdogs on the card, Leon Edwards pulled off one of the bigger upsets after just 35 percent of fantasy players picked him to get the win over Vicente Luque, who entered the fight with four straight wins, all by knockout or submission. Still, Edwards defied the odds by getting a win by decision.
Francimar Barroso also earned a decision win in a grudge match with Darren Stewart after just 27 percent of players picked him.
All told, according to the picks by fantasy players for UFC Fight Night in London, six favorites came away victorious while five underdogs made waves by pulling off upsets.
