For the better part of two rounds, Beneil Dariush fought exactly the sort of fight one should fight in order to shut down a highlight-reel knockout artist like Edson Barboza.
Until he made a split-second mistake in telegraphing his timing, that is. Then Barboza exploded.
Barboza ended the lightweight fight Saturday night with a wicked flying knee that added his name to the Knockout of the Year race. The time of the finish at UFC Fight Night 106 in Forteleza, Brazil was 3:35 of the second round.
Barboza managed to land some of his patented body kicks in the opening round, but by and large, Dariush was the better performer in the opening stanza, as he peppered Barboza with a wide variety of strikes and didn’t often let Barboza get comfortable in the pocket.