Cesar Almeida produced a Knockout of the Year candidate earlier tonight (Sat., Jan. 11, 2025) at UFC Vegas 101 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, pulling off a comeback stoppage over Abdul Razak Alhassan with a insane counter left hook. It’s easily going to be one of the best finishes of 2025.
Alhassan has a 100% finish rate, but he still entered this weekend’s striking-friendly tilt with Almeida as a sizeable underdog. That’s because Almeida is a former GLORY kickboxer who has shared the ring with the likes of Alex Pereira. He’s the real deal when it comes to standup so it was going to be up to Alhassan to gain some momentum in the early going.
Luckily for the veteran UFC fighter, he was able to land some powerful shots in the opening minutes that kept Almeida honest. Eventually, Alhassan found his window of opportunity to shock Almeida with a nice knockdown. Alhassan is not one to take his foot off the gas pedal so he tried to find the finish. That left him susceptible to a counter punch along the fence.
Out of nowhere, Almeida uncorked a thunderous left hook that connected perfectly. Alhassan immediately went out and planked to the canvas. It was a scary finish to say the least, especially because it took Alhassan a few minutes to come back. He even needed help getting out of the Octagon after suffering the knockout blow.
Check out the final moments below:
Cesar Almeida brings the BOOM @SpinninBackfist pic.twitter.com/QsoHW5C6sM
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 12, 2025
FINISHED THE JOB IN THE FIRST ROUND
Cesar Almeida took care of business at #UFCVegas101! pic.twitter.com/KGswlx4ejo
— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2025
GOT THE BOSS MAN ON HIS FEET #UFCVegas101 pic.twitter.com/f6OKE7Wm2p
— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2025
For complete UFC Vegas 101 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.