Uriah Hall’s devastating spinning back kick

VIDEO: Kicking off the main event fights in UFC Japan, Uriah Hall delivered this brutally accurate spinning kick to his opponent.

SAITAMA, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 27: Uriah Hall of Jamaica celebrates his win over Gegard Mousaasi of Iran in their middleweight bout during the UFC event at the Saitama Super Arena on September 27, 2015 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Mitch Viquez/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

POSING one of the most entertaining cards to hit Japan in recent memory, UFC Fight Night: Barnett v Nelson did not disappoint.

With preliminary bouts that included one fighter refusing to tap and passing out cold thanks to a a rear-naked choke, as well as a match so tightly contested the judges were forced to call a draw, it was the co-main event fight that really delivered the goods in Saitama Japan.

Uriah Hall took on Gerard Mousasi in a middleweight fight that never looked likely to go to decision.

Mousasi dominated the first round, but failed to capitalise on numerous submission attempts as Hall narrowly negotiated his way around a rear naked choke to survive until the bell.

It took just seven seconds for Hall to act at the commencement of the second round, landing a signature spinning back kick directly on Mousasi’s jaw.

A stunned Mousasi then stepped directly into a flying knee from Hall — a sequence that commentators described as “unbelievable”.

“Are you kidding me? That is just tremendous accuracy,” one commentator said.

“Unbelievable. You stand up with Uriah Hall and he will make you pay.”

Hall followed his brutal attack with a barrage of punches, which eventually saw the referee intervene as Mousasi failed to fight back.

It is not the first time the 31-year-old has used this brutal striking method to secure a victory. Hall made his spinning kick famous in season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, when he knocked out opponent Adam Cella with five seconds to go in the first round.

The strike was described by UFC boss Dana White as “one of the nastiest knockouts I’ve ever seen in the fight business, let alone on the Ultimate Fighter.”

Hall’s TKO victory over Mousasi is the Jamaican’s fifth in the UFC, and comes as a huge upset to the 45-fight veteran based in the Netherlands.

Mousasi spoke with Fox Sports prior to the fight, and was confident his “killer instincts” would see him win his 38th mixed martial arts bout.

“For a fight you try to get in shape. Meanwhile, you also try to develop yourself technique-wise, mentally, physically,” he explained.

“I have killer-instincts, so I’m going to go for the finish.

“My main goal, now, is to win the UFC belt. It’s the pinnacle of my career.”

But it was not to be, with Hall’s kick responsible for preventing a hat-trick of successive UFC wins for the Iranian-born fighter.

Meanwhile, Josh Barnett picked up a unanimous decision victory over Roy Nelson in the five-round main event.

Barnett has been a mainstay in Japan for a huge part of his career between fighting, cornering other fighters and his second career as a professional wrestler. Barnett even gave up his traditional walk-out music and instead treated the Japanese fans to the same song he used once upon a time while he was competing in PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Once the fight started both men went in the complete opposite direction.

Barnett immediately began looking for strikes from the clinch, including a huge knee that he fired right up the middle early in the first round.

The former UFC heavyweight champion even launched a head kick that glanced by Nelson’s head, who then countered by grabbing the leg and dragging the fight to the ground.

Nelson was actually able to secure a total of four takedowns during the fight, but he could never capitalise on the position as the referee stood them up time and time again.

“Clinch work wasn’t good enough,” Barnett said.

“Nothing I did in here was good enough tonight, but it’s a good starting point.”

Despite his self-criticism, Barnett landed a total of 95 significant strikes from the clinch, which according to Fightmetric is a new single-fight UFC record.

There were a few moments where it appeared Barnett might be close to finishing Nelson, but then the always-resilient former “Ultimate Fighter” winner would bite down on his mouthpiece and find a way to fight back.

When it was over, both men were gasping for air but when the decision was returned Barnett got the victory by unanimous decision with the scores reading 50-45, 48-47 and 48-47.

An emotional Barnett addressed the crowd in Japanese while a smile crept across his face as he was able to return to the scene of many of his biggest accomplishments across mixed martial arts as well as his time spent in the country as a popular professional wrestler.

“Thank you Japan, I love you, I love you, I love you,” Barnett said.

“Every time I fight in Japan I’m excited and nervous at the same time but I love this country, thank you.”

Barnett even celebrated with his opponent, who gave him everything he could handle over five rounds.

“Roy Nelson’s a champ. He’s a warrior and he’s the kind of people we need in the UFC,” Barnett said.

“That’s what people want to see fight. That’s why I gave Roy everything I could and he took it and came back and that’s why Roy is the man.”

— with foxsports.com