NEW YORK -- For as raw as light heavyweight contender Ovince Saint Preux tends to still be at times, he's never out of a fight because of his tendency for highlight-reel strikes out of nowhere.

Saint Preux (22-10) illustrated that equation perfectly on Saturday at UFC 217 by authoring a Knockout of the Year candidate against Corey Anderson in the final round of a fight he was very likely losing on the scorecards.

A flush left kick to the face of Anderson (9-4) saw OSP's shin connect squarely on the chin. Anderson was knocked cold and fell flat on his back with his arms tucked to his side. Referee Dan Miragliotta instantly jumped in to wave the fight off at 1:25 as the Madison Square Garden crowd erupted.

Saint Preux, who improved to 3-2 since his 2016 decision loss to Jon Jones for the interim UFC light heavyweight title, was largely outwrestled and controlled by Anderson for the first two rounds.

But OSP opened Round 2 with the same kick to the face that ended the fight. This time it knocked Anderson down although he was able to rally and control the rest of the round from the clinch.

"With Corey, you need to make a lot of adjustments," Saint Preux said. "Hats off to him. He kept up a really good pace and I tried to keep up with that pace. To be honest, he overwhelmed me with his pace at first.

"I caught him with a high head kick early [in Round 2] and went back to it in the third."