- UFC 279 — a big, pay-per-view event that took place Saturday in Las Vegas — was chaos.
- One of the fights featured a heavyweight bout with two fighters weighing a combined 532.5-pounds.
LAS VEGAS — If you're curious about wild, unpredictable chaos in a fast-paced fistfight between two MMA fighters who weighed a combined 532.5-pounds, then boy do we have a story for you.
American heavyweight Chris Barnett almost broke the scales Friday as he weighed in too heavy for the heavyweight limit, at 267.5-pounds — 2.5-pounds heavier than his opponent Jake Collier, who came in on the money.
The bout went ahead regardless.
The following night, as fans were still pouring into the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 279, they threw slugs like they knew neither one of them was going to see the final bell.
This bout was about one thing and one thing only — scoring a finish in a manner so back-and-forth, so electric, that the crowd had no choice but to put down their beers and cheer the action.
In the first round alone, Collier stole the show and came close to scoring a finish of his own as he succeeded with one takedown while landing an extraordinary 48 shots from 90 attempts, according to official UFC statistics.
Barnett was in trouble on his feet, on the floor, and took so much damage that one of his eyes looked like it had swollen shut, while a side of his jaw appeared to hang off its hinges.
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2022
An Octagonside doctor checked Barnett at the end of the first round
So severe were Barnett's injuries that a medical professional checked on him between rounds to ensure that he was fit for battle.
In good news for Barnett he was fine, according to the doctor.
And so into the second round these heavyweights went but, this time, with the momentum swinging from Collier to Barnett — who called the shots by throwing an absurd amount of his own.
Before the second round could even finish, Barnett landed 65 of 93 punches while limiting Collier to 9 from 17.
Unperturbed at his blood and his bruising, Barnett controlled Collier during stand-up exchanges before forcing him into a vulnerable position on the floor, raining strikes onto his opponent's flesh and bones until the referee said, "Hey, enough."
Watch the frenetic fight below:
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2022
Barnett celebrated with a flip and spat a promo that kept the crowd cheering before leaving the arena while dancing and drinking beers fans handed to him.
—Al Dawson (@AlanDawsonSport) September 11, 2022
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2022
With the victory, Barnett advanced his pro-MMA record to 23 wins (18 knockouts and five decisions) against eight losses.
Earlier in the show, Norma Dumont beat Danyelle Wolf by decision, Alateng Heili outpointed Chad Anheliger, and Elise Reed edged Melissa Martinez.
Yohan Lainesse scored a split decision win over Darian Weeks in the first fight of the night.
Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson, two of the biggest fan favorites in the entire sport, headlined the show.