Nigerian-born mixed martial arts (MMA) contender, Bolaji Oki’s loss to Manoel Sousa on March 14th this year has been ranked among the biggest knockout esults of 2026 in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Sports247 reports that Oki, who fights as a Belgian, fell to Sousa of Brazil after four minutes three seconds of Round 3 in their clash on UFC Fight Night 114 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, USA.
The lightweight bout ended with a massive, highlight-reel right hand from Sousa, who inflicted the first knockout loss of Oki’s career and fetched the Brazilian a $100,000 prize, in what was his promotional debut.
Dramatically, Sousa earlier on suffered a very painful third-round eye poke, which he later said only motivated him to become more aggressive and chase a submission with extra determination.
Both fighters went toe-to-toe in a gritty up-and-down battle, with Sousa (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Oki (10-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) trading heavy shots and going for the finish in just over 14 minutes.
With the final minute ticking down, Sousa unloaded a massive punch that floored Oki and put him out cold, earning the Brazilian rookie instant stardom, just a few days after he signed up for Dana White’s Contender Series.
On his part, Oki said it was an eye-opener that would spur him towards better results in years to come, even as he retorted: “It’s been a wonderful experience. There have been ups and downs. I won my first UFC fight, I lost the second one, so I had the down.
“I’m still learning in the sport, being comfortable in the UFC. I had to be comfortable in the UFC because you have more pressure; now you’re in the big leagues, there is more pressure on you, and you wanna win. I had to have those fights to get more comfortable.”
