Remember Jonas Bilharinho? He was the sparring partner Jose Aldo drafted in to mimic Conor McGregor’s fighting style ahead of their scheduled fight at UFC 189.
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go to plan, as Bilharinho went on to damage Aldo’s ribs with a spinning back-kick during sparring, forcing the then-champion out of the fight and setting off a chain of events that eventually resulted in McGregor sitting on top of the MMA world after making Aldo the victim of a 13-second knockout at UFC 194 in December 2015.
The Brazilian, known as “Speed,” has been away from the cage since an April 2016 loss (the only defeat of his career) in the Jungle Fight promotion in his homeland. But now he’s back, and the featherweight marked his return with a stunning flying-knee finish at Future FC 9 this weekend.
Bilharinho faced off against his countryman Junior Duarte, who was actually on a decent run of form heading into the contest, but Bilharinho shook off the rust of more than three years away from the cage to deliver a spectacular finish.
He dropped his opponent with a perfectly-timed counter right hook, then unloaded a series of ground strikes on Duarte, who looked all but done at that point. However, the referee allowed the action to continue and Duarte somehow found his way back to his feet, where it all got much, much worse for him.
Barely able to keep himself upright, Duarte staggered back towards the fence and, as he looked to use the cage to balance himself, he was met by a spectacular flying knee from Bilharinho, which knocked him out cold. Watch it here (via Twitter):
The stunning finish takes Bilharinho’s career record to 7-1-1 and, if he stays active and puts on another performance or two like that one, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the UFC or Bellator come calling for the flashy Brazilian’s services in 2020.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
