LAS VEGAS – In two appearances under the UFC banner, Chidi Njokuani has not seen the second round in either fight, and that is no accident.
If the hard-hitting middleweight had his choice, rather than be involved in a Fight of the Night type of battle, every fight would end in 16 seconds like his UFC debut against Marc-Andre Barriault. However, when a fight is finished so quickly, Njokuani (22-7 MMA, 2-0 UFC) doesn’t get to truly show his full game. It’s a tricky balance, but spectacular first-round finishes certainly come with perks, including less damage, the ability to make a quick turnaround, and the high likelihood of claiming a Performance of the Night bonus.
Njokuani has taken home two such bonuses after both appearances in the UFC. Although his bout at UFC Fight Night 206 against Dusko Todorovic wasn’t the 16-second blur his debut was, Njokuani is glad he was able to prove something more in what was still a phenomenal first-round finish.
“My last fight was so short nobody really got a chance to see what I was capable of doing,” Njokuani told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “In this fight, I was able to show a little bit more and I was still able to get the finish, so it lets everybody know that the last one just wasn’t an accident. Now it’s, ‘Okay, we do gotta be worried about this guy.’”
Njokuani certainly showed more of his game when he slapped on a D’Arce choke attempt during a scramble on the mat. The technique was solid, but Todorovic (11-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) was able to escape. Ultimately, it was a devastating elbow from Njokuani that lead to the finish of the fight in the closing seconds of the first round.
The win marked the fourth-straight victory for the Dallas-born fighter. Njokuani knows there’s more work to be done in order to achieve a shot at the title, but is certainly enjoying the fruits of his hard labor throughout his career that began in 2007.
“It’s crazy,” Njokuani said. “It took forever to get here, but it’s – like all the hard work we put in, this is the only outcome that’s possible, you know? We put in so much work for years and years, and me finally getting my sh*t together mentally, physically, listening to my coaches for once. Like, there’s no other outcome possible but this.”
Check out the full post-fight interview with Njokuani in the video above.