Quillan Salkilld turned in a Knockout of the Year candidate in Abu Dhabi.
At UFC 321, Salkilld (10-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) landed an all-time-violent high kick Saturday that knocked out Nasrat Haqparast before he hit the canvas. The stoppage came at the 2:30 mark of Round 1.
Haqparast (18-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was down for several minutes after the blow landed. When the broadcast came back from commercial, he was still laying on his back. Eventually, he sat up and rose to his feet.
Salkilld almost certainly notched a $50,000 performance bonus with the win. He maintains a perfect promotional record as he emerges as one of the lightweight division’s most highly-touted prospects. His first two UFC wins came against Jeka Saragih and Yanal Ashmouz.
Haqparast, 30, has a five-fight winning streak snapped.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 321 results include:
- Quillan Salkilld def. Nasrat Haqparast via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 2:30
- Ikram Aliskerov def. JunYong Park via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ludovit Klein def. Mateusz Rebecki via majority decision (29-27, 28-27, 28-28)
- Valter Walker def. Louie Sutherland via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:24
- Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Delgado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Chris Barnett via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27, 29-27)
- Mitch Raposo def. Azat Maksum via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)
- Mizuki Inoue def. Jaqueline Amorim via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
