It took him 26 fights in an 11½ -year professional career to get there, but Michael Chandler wasted no time in announcing his presence in the Octagon on Saturday night.
The former Bellator lightweight champion knocked out Dan Hooker in the first round of the co-main event of UFC 257 on Saturday night in AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Chandler, who is 34 and trains in Boca Raton, Florida, got the job done with a left hook that dropped the New Zealander, followed by a flurry of punches before referee Herb Dean waved it off just 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the fight.