Lightweight veterans Diego Ferreira and Michael Johnson clashed on the UFC Vegas 73 main card on Saturday night.
Known for having one of the quickest pairs of hands in the entire sport, Johnson found early success outnumbering the Brazilian in terms of significant strikes landed. ‘The Menace’ was likely edging out the second round as well before Ferreira absolutely knocked him out stiff with a huge overhand right.
Watch the KO below:
Johnson going to sleep with his right hand on his chest and legs slightly crossed is certainly one of the scariest sights we’ve recently seen in the octagon. UFC Twitter was left stunned by the absolute brutality of the knockout delivered by a grappling wizard.
Check out some reactions below:
“I thought bro died in that ring”
“GOD DAMN. It has been a minute since I’ve seen a fighter go that far out.”
“Holy crap! Diego Ferreira just sent Michael Johnson to the cemetery. I hope he’s okay”
“This hurt to watch”
For many, it brought back flashbacks of another brutal KO loss Johnson suffered against Josh Emmett back in 2019. Fans noted:
“That was identical to the josh Emmett ko”
Diego Ferreira had contemplated retirement before returning to the octagon at UFC Vegas 73
Diego Ferreira was riding a magnificent six fight win streak before dropping three in a row in 2021, albeit against top level opponents. Riddled with injuries, the Brazilian would not be able to make a return to the octagon before his UFC Vegas 73 clash against Michael Johnson on Saturday night.
Ferreira recently admitted that retirement had crossed his mind during the long layoff. However, it was his coach who convinced him to make another run to see how much he has left. The 38-year-old said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com:
“Yeah, it did cross my mind. I did a couple of jiu-jitsu tournaments before getting ready for a fight to see how my body and mindset were. I still got it, I still have that hunger and focus but it did go through my mind to retire and stop here. My body wasn’t hanging on as I wanted but my coach wanted to try for two years to see how far I want to take it. I want to focus on these two years I have ahead of me to see how far I can go.”
Catch Diego Ferreira’s comments below: