The lights went out at The O2 arena as UFC 286 fans were left in darkness just moments before Muhammad Mokaev's fight against Jafel Filho.
Veteran UFC announcer Bruce Buffer had already given his introductions as Mokaev and Filho were about to start their fight on the UFC 286 card, but just moments later all of the lights in the venue went out. Fans were quick to think on their fight and turned on the torches on their phones as a sea of flashlights then formed around the venue.
Normal service resumed about 30 seconds later as the lights came back on which drew a big reaction from the fans, as well as Mokaev and Filho in the cage. Referee Herb Dean got the action underway and Mokaev went on to tap out Filho with just a minute left in the fight after suffering a close submission scare of his own in the round.
Mokaev said his knee was “cracking every second” after he refused to tap to Filho’s submission attempt. The 23-year-old opted against shoulder surgery just months before his fight with Filho so he could compete in London and he paid for the decision as his shoulder also troubled him during the fight.
Elsewhere at UFC 286 prelims, Jack Shore won his featherweight debut by tapping out Makwan Amirkhani in the second round with a rear-naked choke. Chris Duncan won a hard-fought decision against Omar Morales whilst Sam Patterson was brutally knocked out in his UFC debut by Yanal Ashmoz.
What do you make of the lights going out at UFC 286? Let us know in the comments section below
Lerone Murphy was put through the paces by promotional debutant Gabriel Santos, but the Mancunian did enough to edge out a split decision. Birmingham’s Jake Hadley picked up an impressive knockout win against flyweight veteran Malcolm Gordon as he dispatched the Canadian in just 61-seconds with a body shot.
Jai Herbert and Ludovit Klein fought to a majority draw after Herbert was deducted a point in the final round due to multiple groin strikes. Christian Leroy Duncan picked up an unfortunate win in his UFC debut as Dusko Tudorovic suffered a freak leg injury less than two minutes into their fight. There were also good wins Joanne Wood and Veronica Hardy earlier on in the evening.
