Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards will settle their rivalry in a highly-anticipated trilogy fight showdown in London on Sunday morning.
And the blockbuster card got off to an explosive start as Muhammad Mokaev somehow escaped a knee-bending lock to beat Jafel Filho by submission himself.
The flyweight looked in all sorts of trouble in the third and final round as his leg was twisted in a knee bar, The Sun reports.
But the former amateur world champion refused to tap out and eventually got back to his feet.
And Mokaev will be glad he did too as he managed to take Filho down and secure a rear naked choke.
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Filho was unable to break free and was forced to tap out, securing Mokaev a remarkable turnaround victory.
The Russian-born Manchester-raised prospect was left barely able to walk as he hobbled to his feet in celebration of his tenth pro win.
Mokaev said: “To be honest, I need to finish.
“This is my fourth fight in 12 months. I’m 22-years-old, I will be ranked number ten after this fight, after Jon Jones, who else is doing this?”
He said he knew his knee was “cracking” when trapped in the knee bar.
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall – working for BT Box Office – was full of praise for the resilient Mokaev.
Aspinall said: “What did I say about this man’s mentality? This man is different to the rest.
“The stuff that this guy’s been through in his personal life, the guy has been through so much adversity.
“The guy is not going to give up with something like that.
“His mental strength, his physical strength, 95 per cent of people at least, 99 per cent would have definitely tapped to that technique.”
The rest of the world was just as astounded.
UFC commentator Zac Pacleb wrote on Twitter: Good god how on earth did Mokaev survive this?”
Full fight card — UFC 286
Main event card
Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman
Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
Gunnar Nelson vs. Bryan Barberena
Jennifer Maia vs. Casey O’Neill
Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
Preliminary card
Jack Shore def Makwan Amirkhani via submission in Round Two
Chris Duncan def Omar Morales via SD (29-28 x 2, 27-30)
Sam Patterson def by Yanal Ashmoz via TKO in Round One
Muhammad Mokaev def Jafel Filho via submission in Round Three
Early prelims
Lerone Murphy def Gabriel Santos via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Christian Leroy Duncan def Dusko Todorovic via TKO (injury) in Round One
Malcolm Gordon def by Jake Hadley via TKO in Round One
Joanne Wood def Luana Carolina via SD (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Jai Herbert drew with Ludovit Klein (29-27, 28-28 x 2)
Juliana Miller def by Veronica Macedo via UD (30-27 x 3)
— with foxsports.com.au