Nigeria's Kennedy Nzechukwu puts Devin Clark to sleep for 3rd straight win

Nigerian mixed martial artist Kennedy Nzechukwu continued his surge upwards in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight division with a victory against Devin Clark early on Sunday, May 6, 2023.

Clark wanted nothing more than to knock  Nzechukwu out after suffering a barrage of hard elbows at the close of the first round.

At the 2:28 mark of the second round of the UFC 288 preliminary, Clark was trapped in a standing guillotine choke, and after a protracted squeeze, the referee stepped in to save him.

From the beginning, Clark made it clear that he intended to engage in a brawl. He grabbed Nzechukwu's leg and pushed him against the fence. 

He quickly struggled with Nzechukwu's takedown defense, which featured knees from the clinch and elbows close to the side of the head.

Clark's straight left, which stopped Nzechukwu in his tracks and forced him to look for alternate routes, allowed for a swarm that included a flurry of elbows. 

Nzechukwu, though, did a good job of disguising himself and avoiding the worst of it before responding with an attack of his own that clearly hurt Clark.

At the beginning of the second round, the battle almost immediately returned to the fence, and Nzechukwu once more performed better in the clinch with knees to the body and elbows inside. 

As soon as he gained some distance, Clark sought to finish the fight once more, but he ultimately paid the price.

Following victories over Ion Cutelaba and Karl Roberson by stoppage, Nzechukwu has now won three fights in a row cementing a contender spot in the Light-heavyweight division.