Nigerian-born athlete Chidi Njokuani has made a daring comeback in the octagon after defeating Ballymena fighter Rhys Mckee. Mckee has suffered a string of defeats since his UFC debut and was hoping to turn his fate around. Sadly suffered yet another defeat. The two fighters aimed to bounce back after their last three losses, but Njokuani had the upper hand in this bout.
The fight, which took place at UFC Atlantic City, was the headlining event and ushered in other main cards like Bill Algeo vs. Kyle Nelson, Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Sedriques Dumas, Chris Weidman vs Bruno Silva, Vincente Luque vs. Joaquin Buckley, Erin Blanchfield vs Manon Fiorot. The round started with the two tall welterweight fighters coming into the cage with intense energy. Njokuani came in with leg kicks, but Mckee countered them with straight punches. Mckee continued to hammer Njokuani with vicious strikes, but his opponent kept his guard up and remained in the round. Mckee clinched up and tried for a takedown, but an already exhausted Njokuani stayed on his feet till the end of the round.
Round two began with a knee-to-head strike from Njokuani. Mckee tried to hold him off and backed him to the cage with a clinch. Njokuani slipped through and landed counter elbow and knee strikes. Mckee tried to save himself and clinched up to Njokuani, who could not land any shots after this. They remained in that position till the end of the match. The final round began with Mckee going for a takedown, but Njokuani responded with a right-hand punch to Mckee’s jaw. He went in for the kill and performed a nice takedown, but Mckee soon got back on his feet and evaded strikes. Mckee soon went in for another clinch, but Njokuani landed some heavy shots.
The scores took a long time to total. One judge ruled in favor of Mckee, but two others chose Njokuani, making his win a split decision victory. This is Njokuani’s first win after cutting down from middleweight to welterweight. Despite previous difficulties in making this transition, Njokuani has demonstrated resilience and is on his way to becoming a prominent fighter in the UFC.
