Jared Gooden admitted prior to UFC on ESPN 28 that he was in a do-or-die situation. He responded with a violent knockout of Niklas Stolze.
Gooden (18-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who stepped into the welterweight bout with Stolze on just four days’ notice as a replacement, needed just 68 seconds to score a violent first-round knockout of Stolze (12-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via Twitter):
An all angle look at that @JGNitetrain23 KO! 🤯 #UFCVegas33 pic.twitter.com/XzGcGcLd9i
— UFC (@ufc) August 1, 2021
😲😲😲
[ @JGNitetrain23 | #UFCVegas33 ] pic.twitter.com/OxAMT7jBZR
— UFC (@ufc) August 1, 2021
What made the win for Gooden all the more dramatic is that after stepping up to fight, his bout was called off Saturday afternoon due to COVID-19 protocols. However, upon further review, the UFC received medical clearance to reinstate the fight.
That was a good thing for Gooden, who got the job done in spectacular fashion.
“My mentality and my coach changed,” Gooden said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “We knew we couldn’t go to the judges no more, and that’s what changed.”
