Thomas Almeida wins bantamweight fight with flying knee

UFC 189 is off and flying, with Thomas Almeida pulling off this incredible flying knee KO in a prelim to the McGregor v Mendes fight.

Brutal flying knee KO ignites UFC 189

WITH all the talk out of the UFC in recent weeks coming from the much anticipated interim featherweight title match between Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes, nobody expected the preliminary match-ups to be so exhilarating.

Thomas Almeida managed to pull off an unlikely bantamweight victory against cage veteran Brad Pickett with a brutal flying knee in the second round.

Pickett was the stronger of the pair in the first round, breaking Almeida’s nose in a dominant opener that looked all but lost for the youngster.

However, Almeida came back at the 29 second mark of the second round, dropping Pickett with a brutal knee to the head.

Good lord @ThomasalmeidaCB #UFC189 pic.twitter.com/LeppTyD9IT

— Tyler Myles (@TheTylerMyles) July 12, 2015

The strike, which left the 36-year-old UK fighter unconscious on the canvas, was one of the most textbook knee strikes the UFC has seen in a long time.

“It was very important for my career,” Almeida said by hand of his interpreter.

“I’m here to stay.”

“I had a very tough opponent,” he said.

“Brad is a very tough guy, it took me a little while to get into the fight but when it did I handled it.”

The victory gives Almeida an impressive record of 20-0, while Pickett suffers his third consecutive defeat.

The card is starting to produce a pattern, as Jeremy Stephens also pulled off an impressive flying knee to knock out Dennis Bermudez in round three of their featherweight bout.

Holy FLYING KNEEEE!!!!! That was CRAZY!!! @ThomasalmeidaCB #UFC189

— #UFC189 (@ufc) July 12, 2015

Damn hell of a fight to start the pay per view card @ThomasalmeidaCB is the real deal #UFC189

— Sergio Pettis (@sergiopettis) July 12, 2015

THOMAS ALMEIDA!!!!!!!!! MY GOOOODDDDDD!!!! BASEBALL BAT KNEE TO THE FACE!!!!! #UFC189

— ScrapReport.com (@ScrapReport) July 12, 2015

Thomas Almeida will see your flying knee, raise you a flying knee, then say thanks for playing. Almeida even pulled the head down, too.

— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) July 12, 2015

Jeremy Stephens and Thomas Almeida are making Conor McGregor work for a fight bonus, SMH. #UFC189

— Manny David (@TheMannyDavid) July 12, 2015

Another flying knee!!!!! And then Jeremy Stephens finishes with punches on the ground. Unreal!!!! #UFC189

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 12, 2015