Russian light heavyweight Evgeniy Poskotin snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at Saturday’s MMA Series 26 event in Voronezh, starching his opponent with a Hail Mary left hand seconds after it seemed he was about to be KO’d.
Poskotin improved his young record to 2-0 with his stunning overhand strike in the 205lbs contest with Kyrgyzstan’s Nurel Amanov but things could have been very different after Amanov capitalized on Poskotin’s apparently porous striking defence, catching the Russian slugger with a right hand which sent him sprawling across the ring.
Sensing what would have a win in his professional MMA debut, Amanov swarmed in an attempt to finish the retreating Poskotin – only to be met with a power shot which immediately turned the tide of the fight.
Amanov dropped to the mat, where Poskotin followed and delivered a fight ending flurry of ground and pound blows.
The win – or more specifically the manner in which it was achieved – prompted some fans to celebrate the drama which can often occur in an MMA ring.
As noted by some fans online, the finish of the fight mirrored some of the more well-known instances of unlikely come-from-behind wins to have taken place in mixed martial arts.
Former UFC fighter Scott Smith will be enshrined in MMA highlights montages until the end of time after his stunning comeback win against Pete Sell many moons ago, while French kickboxer Cheick Kongo earned a similarly unlikely victory against Pat Barry all the way back in 2011.
The most famous instance of comeback win in UFC history, though, is likely to remain that of former welterweight kingpin Matt Hughes who famously defeated Frank Trigg by rear-naked choke submission – moments after being caught by his opponent in the exact same technique.
It will be scant consolation for Amanov to be included among these famous names but one suspects that he won’t soon forget the lessons he learned in his mixed martial arts debut.
That is, of course, if the knockout hasn’t wiped his memory clean for him.
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