Getty Image / Chris Unger
- Chidi Njokuani took a while to get to the UFC, but made sure to get his time there off to a fast start
- He needed jut 15 seconds to KO Marc-Andre Barriault in his debut
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It felt like it took forever for Chidi Njokuani to make it to the UFC, but it didn’t take him very long at all to leave his mark once he got there. This afternoon, he fought in the UFC for the first time and it only took him 15 seconds to knock out Marc-Andre Barriault.
FIFTEEN SECONDS IS ALL HE NEEDED IN THE DEBUT!!!!!!!
Give it up for @ChidiBangNjoku 🙌 #UFCVegas47 pic.twitter.com/QyGCUvr43K
— UFC (@ufc) February 5, 2022
The younger brother of UFC vet Anthony Njokuani, Chidi racked up a 19-7 record over the course of the first 14 years of his career and spent a chunk of his career in Bellator, but the UFC had eluded him. That was until a big performance earned in September earned him a contract.
That performance was a 3rd round TKO on the Contender Series. The UFC decided to give him a rising middleweight for his first fight in the organization and he capitalized on the opportunity.
The loss put a stop to a 2 fight winning streak for Barriault. He had finally been establishing himself in the middleweight division after starting his UFC tenure with 3 consecutive losses. Now he’ll need to find a way to bounce back from a devastating knockout and get himself back in the win column
Njokuani finds himself firmly on the radar of MMA fans everywhere after an emphatic win, the second fastest ever by a debuting UFC fighter. It should lead to another big opportunity his next time out.
Njokuani couldn’t have asked for a better debut at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Strickland and will now likely pocket a nice bonus check for his efforts.