Vinicius Oliveira wasn’t leaving Las Vegas without another knockout win on his résumé.
The Brazilian debutant recorded his 16th knockout in his first UFC appearance, closing the show against Bernardo Sopai with a superb flying knee strike late in the third round of their bantamweight bout at UFC Vegas 87 on Saturday.
Watch Oliveira’s unreal knockout below.
Oliveira was likely headed to a judges’ decision win after a thrilling back-and-forth fight that saw Sopai find success in Round 1 and Oliveira battle back from adversity in Round 2. The second period saw Oliveira have to fight off of his back against an aggressive Sopai, but once Oliveira turned the tables it was clear that Sopai—also debuting and on less than a week’s notice—had little left in the gas tank.
Round 3 was all Oliveira and he teed off on Sopai, throwing all-or-nothing punches that were just inches away from taking Sopai out. The finishing sequence came as Oliveira badly hurt Sopai with a leg kick, then chased his limping opponent to the cage wall where he blasted him with a flying knee right on the chin. The stoppage came at the 4:41 mark of the third.
“Lok Dog” is now 20-3 as a pro and his past five victories have all come by way of knockout or submission. On the other side, Sopai (11-3) was finished for the first time in his career.
