When two fighters come out swinging for the fences, the contest generally doesn't last too long.
That's exactly what happened in the opening fight of UFC Belfast's preliminary card as SBG's Charlie Ward took on fellow promotional newcomer Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Alhassan entered into this bout with a pristine professional record and a reputation as a knockout monster. Prior to UFC Belfast, the explosive welterweight had won all six of his bouts via first round knockout with none of them going past the 86-second mark.
He improved that record to 7-0 with another lightning quick finish of Ward in the SSE Arena. He found home with his heavy hands multiple times in the opening exchanges, dropping the 35-year-old a few times. Despite Ward showing incredible heart to keep getting back to his feet and fire back with heavy punches of his own, eventually Alhassan's power proved to be too much for the Irishman.
He rocked Ward with a powerful right hand about 40-seconds in, causing his legs to turn to jelly before another short left dropped him to the canvas again. A few more punches to the dome followed as Ward struggled back to his feet just in time to eat another huge right hand on the chin that sent him crashing head first into the fence, leaving the referee no option but to award the Alhassan the knockout victory just 53 seconds into the opening stanza.
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