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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

UFC star produces stunning knockout of bantamweight rival in mid-air

A UFC star produced a stunning mid-air knockout in the first round.

Douglas Silva de Andrade celebrated in style after an emphatic win over Gaetano Pirrello at UFC Vegas 38.

The 36-year-old responded in style after losing his previous fight with Lerone Murphy in January.

The Brazilian caught his Belgian opponent while mid-air, landing a devastating left hook that floored the 29-year-old.

His ruthless display also earned him the Performance of the Night award, meaning he was awarded an extra £36,900.

Following the fight, medics attended to Pirrello but Andrade did not seem too concerned, with the bantamweight star celebrating his win by twice backflipping off the cage to the delight of the 'Sin City' crowd.

Douglas Silva de Andrade caught his opponent in mid-air with a brutal hook (@UFCEurope/Twitter)

Later, he broke down with emotion as he took in his victory and nearly ran into officials tending to his injured opponent.

"I am feeling really good," he said afterwards, before promising to get back in the ring again as soon as possible.

"It is wonderful to be back, I just want to be thankful.

"If I could, I would be back there (fighting) in two hours. My team was talking with Dana (White) and they were talking about fighting again in January."

The bout served on the undercard for the Thiago Santos v Johnny Walker fight, and although Santos won via unanimous decision victory over five rounds it was a contest that provided few thrills.

The victory took Andrade's UFC record to 27-4-1, and the display was a welcome one having lost four of his previous eight career fights.

It's only the second time he's bagged the Performance of the Night honour, the last one coming back in November 2016 when he beat Henry Briones on the Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 show.

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