Derek Brunson served the Brazilian audience another helping of disappointment, knocking out hometown MMA legend Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in the first round.
Machida, as expected waited patiently for his opponent to strike and looked for the perfect opening. Brunson tried to attack and Machida countered with a straight left. Derek then charged forward, but the elusive Lyoto moved out of the way.
Another counter strike by Machida. Derek hit him with a huge left later on in the round, though, and Lyoto stumbled. The match could have ended there, but the referee let it continue.
Brunson then swarmed over his downed opponent, who was out cold on the mat. The referee could no longer let the fight continue, and ended the fight there.
As Brunson celebrated, the crowd went silent.
It definitely wasn’t the ending Brazil wanted.
IT'S OVER!@DerekBrunson stops Machida in round 1!! WOW! #UFCSP pic.twitter.com/S5yBvXcUvC
— UFC (@ufc) October 29, 2017
