Lone’er Kavanagh looked like a sure-thing future UFC title challenger until Charles Johnson put him downa and out Saturday in Shanghai.
At UFC Fight Night 257, Johnson (18-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) pulled off an insta-comeback when he knocked Kavanagh (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) out with a violent punching combination at 4:35 of Round 2. The flyweight bout took place on the prelims at Shanghai Indoor Stadium.
Kavanagh’s crisp boxing and footwork was on full display early. He showed incredible poise and seemed to be a step ahead of Johnson in just about every sequence. Midway through Round 2, Johnson started finding success and then he ended the fight with a right-hook-to-follow-up-punches combination.
CHARLES JOHNSON WITH THE NASTY KO! pic.twitter.com/8zGQ2FVRPI
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 23, 2025
The win moves Johnson to 5-1 in his most recent six. It also bounces him back from a unanimous decision loss to Ramazan Temirov in March.
Kavanagh, 26, loses for the first time as a professional, though his first two amateur bouts were defeats.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Shanghai results:
- Charles Johnson def. Lone’er Kavanagh via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:35
- Rong Zhu def. Austin Hubbard via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kyle Daukaus def. Michel Pereira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:43
- Yi Zha def. Westin Wilson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:37
- SuYoung You def. Xiao Long via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Uran Satybaldiev def. Diyar Nurgozhay via submission (Ezekiel choke) – Round 1, 2:45
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Top UFC prospect suffers devastating knockout loss in Shanghai