UFC Vegas 56 video: Lucas Almeida delivers brutal third-round knockout to stop Mike Trizano

Lucas Almeida proved Dana White right after he stopped Mike Trizano with an impressive third-round knockout at UFC Vegas 56.

The UFC president kept a close eye on Almeida after he came up short in the UFC’s Contender Series, and the Brazilian made the most of his opportunity after inking a deal with the promotion for his debut on Saturday. Following a back-and-forth war through the first two rounds, Almeida uncorked a huge counter left hook that spun Trizano around and sent him down to the canvas.

Almeida followed up with a barrage of punches on the ground, and with Trizano just covering up to survive, the referee had no choice but to stop the fight. The end came at 55 seconds in the third round.

“Thank you Dana White for giving me this opportunity to be here and believing in me,” Almeida shouted. “I’m going to clear out this division. I knew it was going to be a battle. I woke up this morning and God told me it was going to be a war and I was going to knock him out.”

Gunning for his first finish in the octagon, it was Trizano who head-hunted early and often on Almeida as the fighters engaged in several wild exchanges in the opening round. Trizano nearly got his wish for a highlight-reel knockout after he clipped Almeida with a slick counter left hook that put the Brazilian on wobbly legs.

Trizano followed with a well-timed knee strike, but Almeida was able to recover enough to survive until the horn sounded.

On the restart in the second, Almeida was completely recovered, and this time he was the one who looked stronger on the feet as he began tagging Trizano with some hard combinations. Almeida then returned the favor with a left hook of his own that put Trizano on the canvas, although the TUF veteran was able to hold on enough to recover off his back.

With Almeida looking to dive down to deliver some more punishment, he ended up clashing heads with Trizano, which opened a nasty cut over Trizano’s right eyebrow. Though Trizano was able to continue, blood poured down his face thanks to the head-butt delivered by Almeida.

Ultimately, the cut didn’t matter, because Almedia only allowed the fight to go on for a few more seconds.

As Trizano came forward with another big combination to start the final round, Almeida countered with the left hook that led to the jaw-rattling finish.

The win helps Almeida kick off his UFC career in style as he moves to 14-1 overall, while Trizano drops his second consecutive loss in a row with a 1-3 résumé in his past four fights.