Niko Price got in the first good shot of the fight. And then Abdul Razak Alhassan took over.
The hard-hitting welterweight from Ft. Worth, Texas by way of Ghana put on a spectacular show in Dallas on Saturday night, needing just 43 seconds to score the knockout in the welterweight main-card opener of UFC 228.
“I didn’t think he was going to stand and trade with me,” said Alhassan (10-1), who has all 10 career victories via knockout. “When someone throws at me, I just get mad and i throw back.”
That was indeed the case Saturday, as Alhassan responded to getting stung by the first shot by moving forward and landing with fists of fury. Alhassan dropped Price with a body shot. Price bounced right back up, only to be met with a crushing left hook to the head and a right to the jaw that put him out on his feet. One more shot and Price landed on the mat, ending the bout.
“I saw him moving,” Alhassan said. “When I saw him move I just threw it and I had him at the right time.”
Alhassan won his third straight fight and is now 4-1 in the UFC. Price (12-2, 1 NC) dropped to 2-2 in his past four.