Anthony Pettis made his welterweight debut in dramatic fashion by knocking out Stephen Thompson in the UFC Nashville main event.

Stephen Thompson vs. Anthony Pettis was epic!

Thompson got off to solid start, mixing up his punches and kicks to bust up Pettis by the end of the first round. The second round looked a lot like the first, with Thompson landing the majority of the strikes and Pettis predominantly looking to kick. Then, with less than ten-seconds remaining in the second act, Pettis uncorked a superman punch that completely turned the lights out for Thompson. A pair of ground punches landed for Pettis and his welterweight debut was complete.

What was the highlight of the fight?

It looked as if the the highlight of the fight was going to be a systematic picking apart of Pettis at the hands of Thompson. Turns out Pettis had other plans. Pettis’ superman knockout punch, plus two follow up ground strikes, makes this finishing sequence an instant candidate for knockout of the year.

Where do these two go from here?

Pettis has the chance to reinvent himself at 170-pounds. Knocking the #3 ranked welterweight clean out automatically places Pettis in title contention. Jorge Masvidal recently pulled off a similar upset knockout over former welterweight title contender Darren Till. Facing Masvidal in a title eliminator would be an interesting and exciting next step for Pettis. Robbie Lawler is another dream matchup that would likely be a crowd pleaser. In his post-fight interview, Pettis stated he wanted the winner of Edson Barbosa vs. Justin Gaethje in the lightweight division. Pettis might be better served sticking around at welterweight, but he really holds all of the cards, so who knows? He might even end up standing across from “The Notorious” Conor McGregor at any weight.

It’s tough to say where Thompson goes from here. He really only took this fight because it was a challenge for him to get booked with one of the top welterweights. Winning or losing this fight wasn’t going to change that. Losing in brutal fashion is never a good thing. “Wonderboy” will likely take some time off, some of that will be mandatory, and then kind of just wait and see what eventually opens up. Middleweight? I would watch Stephen Thompson vs. Anderson Silva, although Silva is booked against Jared Cannonier.

Watch now, later, or never?

Watch this right now! Do not pass GO! Do not collect $200! Go straight to watching this epic ending!