Is this the greatest UFC showman? Michel Pereira takes his opponent down, BACKFLIPS him over his head and then submits him in the space of just 40 ridiculous seconds.

Michel Pereira earned a convincing first-round submission over Ihor Potieria at UFC 301 after performing a backflip on his opponent in a spectacular finish.

In just 40 seconds, Pereira managed to knock his opponent to the canvas before launching himself into the air and connecting with a back kick.

The wild move may have been technically illegal, with kicks to the head when an opponent is grounded, but referees conferred and awarded the showman the explosive victory anyway in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Pereira ran off the blocks and dropped Potieria with a left-right combination to the head. With his opponent helpless on the ground, he moved away from him.

But in a surprising turn of events, he then acrobatically threw himself back and slammed his shin into Potieria’s face, making contact with a crunch.

Not finishing there, Pereira dragged Potieria to his feet and finished him off with a standing guillotine, the defeated fighter surrendering 54 seconds into the first round.

After being released from the chokehold, Potieria collapsed to the mat.

As Pereira celebrated a memorable victory, fight officials were seen chatting in the octagon, perhaps to discuss the legality of the back kick.

But shortly afterwards it was confirmed that the measure had indeed been legal. Replays showed that the contact to the head was glancing and the chest was the most affected.

“I still think he needs to learn his lesson about doing backflips and trying to land illegal knees,” UFC announcer Paul Felder said during the PPV broadcast.

“But looking at it from one angle, a lot of it fell on his chest – thank God for him – and I think that’s what kept him from getting a potential disqualification right here.”