Undefeated Indonesian prospect Bilal Hasan made his UFC debut tonight at UFC Shanghai, and it was certainly a remarkable one. The 25-year-old delivered a stellar finish in front of a packed crowd at the Oriental Sports Center, making his promotional debut memorable. The flyweight prospect then took it to another level by paying tribute to late pop legend  Michael Jackson on what would have been his 68th birthday today.

From the opening bell, Hasan made it clear that he was there to pick Nilson Rojas apart. The Dana White’s Contender Series standout looked considerably faster than his opponent and repeatedly found his target with his crisp 1-2 combination. The Canadian fired back with some punches of his own, but Hasan soon found his mark again in the second round, landing a flush straight right that sent his adversary crashing to the canvas.

The referee quickly intervened to stop the fight as Hasan had his hand raised in victory. After his triumph, the UFC debutant gave a shoutout to the Shanghai crowd and paid tribute to the late pop legend.

“I said what’s up China! I love you, Shanghai. Happy Birthday, Michael Jackson,” Bilal Hasan said excitedly during his Octagon interview.

The UFC flyweight standout walked out to Michael Jackson’s famous song ‘Billie Jean’ at UFC Shanghai. However, not many could have anticipated the Indonesian fighter delivering such a heartfelt tribute. That said, this isn’t the first time Hasan has paid his respects to the late pop star.

After beating India’s Mridul Saikia in just 45 seconds at a Dana White’s Contender Series matchup 18 days ago, the 25-year-old celebrated his UFC contract victory by performing Michael Jackson’s signature moonwalk inside the Octagon. Besides him, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva also walked out to MJ’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” at UFC 97 against Thales Leites in 2009.  

In fact, a website named MJFA Forum claims Michael Jackson actually attended UFC 84. The site uploaded a few pictures showing the King of Pop at the event, wearing an all-black outfit and a face covering to disguise himself. So, it’s clear that Jackson was also a fight fan and could rarely attend an event without drawing attention to himself. Hence, he would attend events while maintaining a low profile. 

As we can see, Michael Jackson’s influence has endured even 17 years after his death. However, Bilal Hasan also took a moment to reflect on his impressive knockout at UFC Shanghai.  

Bilal Hassan praises his corner after scoring knockout victory at UFC Shanghai 

For the 25-year-old Indonesian fighter, securing a victory at a packed fight night against the previously undefeated Nilson Rojas in his debut is nothing short of one of the biggest moments of his career. There’s not an ounce of doubt that Hasan put in the hard work to earn such a stellar knockout.

“It was definitely a lot harder than I thought,” Hasan said during the UFC Shanghai Octagon interview. “I knew he was going to be tough. He had never been defeated before. We both had the same record. I just trusted my skill set. I just trusted my corner. Shoutout to Charles Hughson, Ryan Dias, and also my father in my corner.

“Man, it’s not where you are at. It’s who you’re with, and I just trusted who I had around me. And I trusted in what God had planned for me. I truly feel like this is my purpose here in life. Alhamdulillah. I just trusted the process, and most importantly, I had fun with it.”

With a performance like that, Hasan could definitely climb the ladder quickly enough to land a ranked matchup soon. He’s also an exciting flyweight with serious knockout power, which is exactly the kind of prospect the UFC has been looking for to inject more excitement into the 125-pound division. But as the Indonesian fighter continues to collect victories, the challenges will only get tougher.

In that case, it will be interesting to see what the UFC has in store for Bilal Hasan following his impressive victory at UFC Shanghai.