The best MMA highlight of the entire week may already have taken place even before UFC 321 goes down this Saturday.
The UFC is set to return to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE this weekend for UFC 321, which will see Tom Aspinall try to defend his undisputed heavyweight belt for the first time against Ciryl Gane after Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern meet in a rematch to crown the promotion’s new strawweight queen.
There’s also been plenty of other regional MMA action the last few days for fans that couldn’t wait until UFC 321 to get their fill of fights, and the Fusion FC 97 main event between Ronald Padilla and Alvaro Vacacela looks to have produced the current frontrunner for the week’s best highlight.
Taking place at the Centro Convenciones Barranco in Barranco, Lima, Peru, FFC 97 was headlined by an interim lightweight title bout featuring Padilla and former FFC Lightweight Champion Vacacela.
READ MORE: UFC 321: Aspinall vs. Gane full card, odds, start time, how to watch
Ecuador’s Vacacela came into the matchup having already fought three times this year, losing the FFC lightweight belt via stoppage to Jose Lucas Alves in May in between first-round knockouts of Pedro Henrique Finger and Laertes de Paula.
“El Paton” claimed the promotion’s 155 lbs. belt when he stopped former UFC fighter Humberto Bandenay last December, but his hopes of reclaiming gold were swiftly dashed at FFC 97 when Padilla slumped him with a perfectly-timed spinning elbow.
Reminiscent of the back-to-back spinning elbow knockouts scored by Carlos Prates and Lerone Murphy during the main card of UFC 319 back in August, Padilla’s title-winning performance at FFC 97 was his seventh finish out of eight professional wins.
READ MORE: Only fighter to defeat UFC Champion Kayla Harrison could rejoin UFC after PFL release
“Guerrero de Dios” went 4-5 as an amateur fighter before he turned pro in 2023 and submitted Franklin Flores in the first round. The 31-year-old joined FFC last year and only needed 45 seconds to score another submission-win in his promotional debut.
A majority decision over Geanfranco Cortez at FFC 88 kicked off what is now a four-fight win streak for Padilla, who has managed to fit all four of those fights into a five-month span after he also fought five times during his first year with FFC.
It’s certainly hard to top the spectacle of winning a title fight via spinning elbow, but Padilla’s win in the FFC 97 main event was also preceded by another violent main card knockout that saw Piero Pineda sleep Roy Quispe in just 30 seconds.
• UFC 321 reportedly loses fight less than 48 hours before event
• UFC 321 prelim fight card picks & predictions for Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane
• Dustin Poirier says retirement after UFC has been difficult for him
• UFC star ends retirement for return fight against fan favorite at UFC 323
Stick with MMAKnockout for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.