UFC 274: Charles Oliveira wins big, Carla Esparza gets her belt back and Michael Chandler delivers likely KO of the year

Michael Chandler's thrill ride through the UFC continued Saturday night with a stunningly violent front-kick knockout of Tony Ferguson during the main card of UFC 274, an event at Footprint Center in Phoenix headlined by a pair of title fights.

It wasn't an easy night for Chandler, though. He got floored by a Ferguson 1-2 early in Round 1, and even after Chandler blasted a takedown and took positional control later in the round, a Ferguson elbow from the bottom left a cut and major swelling under Chandler's right eye. In a wild round that had the fans roaring, Chandler landed some ground-and-pound damage.

They hadn't seen anything yet.

Chandler came out for Round 2 and almost immediately blasted Ferguson with a straight kick to the chin. Ferguson fell forward on his face, unconscious, as referee Jason Herzog waved off the fight at 17 seconds. Ferguson remained prone on the mat for a while, assisted by medical personnel, before waking up.

As Chandler was having his arm raised in victory, Ferguson stood there looking dazed, as if he had no idea what had just happened to him, bringing about his fourth straight loss.

«Tony Ferguson showed up,» Chandler said. «You've got to pull out something from inside of you.»

He was referring to the kick, but he also had something else brewing inside him: a callout. Yelling into the microphone, he called for the winner of the main event title fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, both of whom have beaten him. If not granted a title fight, Chandler added, he wants Conor McGregor. «You've got to come back and fight somebody,» Chandler said.

Charles Oliveira isn't the official champion. But he's the champion.

Under complicated circumstances, Oliveira submitted Justin Gaethje via