UFC 142 main card recap: Edson Barboza adds Terry Etim to highlight reel with spinning wheel kick

It took Edson Barboza two-plus rounds of kicks to take a commanding lead on the cards in his bout with Terry Etim, but only one to end the fight.

At just over two minutes of the third round, Barboza fired off a fight-ending spinning-wheel-kick that sent Etim reeling to the canvas unconscious. The KO keeps Barboza perfect at 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the Octagon, and earns him the distinction of owning the only knockout in UFC history via wheel kick.

Etim started the bout establishing his jab, but looked for early takedowns after tasting Barboza’s powerful leg kicks. Etim managed to get a quick takedown of Barboza, but couldn’t control him on the mat as Barboza used his explosiveness to quickly get back to his feet. That’s when the leg kicks started adding up. Etim had trouble landing any effective scoring combinations as Barboza continued to manage the distance and pace of the fight with his kicks to close out the opening round.

The second round started much like the first, as Barboza punished Etim with kicks while managing to stuff the takedown attempts of his opponent. Etim finally found his rhythm midway through the round, landing to the body and putting together multiple punch combinations as he came forward. He also earned another takedown, but again was unable to maintain control as Barboza made his way to his feet and continued to score with leg kicks as time wound down on the second stanza.

Etim came out in the third with an obvious sense of urgency, but again was thwarted by the leg kicks of Barboza. After a nice one-two combo from Etim, Barboza uncorked the fight-ending wheel kick at 2:02 of the final round.

“I’d actually done one similar to this before, but it didn’t work out that well,” Barboza remarked through his translator. “This one definitely worked out much better.”

The loss was the first by KO for Terry Etim who drops to 15-4 overall (6-4 UFC).