Chidi Njokuani took long road to bonus-winning UFC debut: 'This means everything'

LAS VEGAS – After 15 years of professional fighting, Chidi Njokuani finally can say he’s a UFC fighter.

The 33-year-old middleweight made his long-awaited promotional debut Saturday at UFC Fight Night 200. Njokuani (21-7 MMA, 1-0 UFC) kicked off his UFC career with a bang with a 16-second knockout of Marc-Andre Barriault.

It was a hard-to-top way to make his first UFC appearance, something Njokuani has been dreaming of for a long time.

“This means everything,” Njokuani told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 200 post-fight news conference. “All the work I put in and having all that patience, and just being really hopeful that one day I’ll get the shot – and now I feel more than ready. It just all worked out.”

Njokuani made his professional MMA debut in 2007. He competed several years under the Bellator banner. Prior to joining the UFC, Njokuani had notable wins against Melvin Guillard, Max Griffin, Alan Jouban and others.

“Chidi Bang Bang” admitted there were many moments where he thought his UFC dream wouldn’t become a reality.

“(I had) plenty of moments, plenty of times where I’m like, ‘I’ll just get a real job,'” Njokuani said. “I got a real job and I was like, ‘F*ck this.'”

Njokuani thought he was going to be successful in his UFC debut, but said he didn’t foresee a 16-second KO. It was the second fastest finish in a promotional debut in UFC history and got him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.

“I was just really trying to touch him up and see where he would open at, and the right hand just happened to land,” Njokuani said. “I saw him wobbled and I jumped on him. I wasn’t really expecting that. I was just trying to go in there and feel him out, but this is 10 times better.”