Sports

Back-To-Back Highlight Reel Slam Knockouts Stun Fans At UFC Fight Night: Dariush Vs. Tsarukyan Event

by

Getty Image


Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night card was not exactly billed as a show-stopper.

Particularly on a weekend where it was competing with several high-level college football conference championship games.

But a pair of knockouts – one from Drakkar Klose and the other from Cody Brundage – stole all the headlines.

Klose entered his lightweight fight with Joe Solecki on the back of a pair of victories. The 35-year-old kept that win streak in tact in impressive fashion, knocking Solecki out inside of the first two minutes.

But it wasn’t just any knockout.

Klose took Solecki down early in the first period before Solecki tried for an armbar. He’d quickly come to regret that decision. Klose lifted his opponent off the mat and sent him crashing back down head first. Solecki was knocked out immediately.

In the very next fight, Brundage pulled off a slam KO of his own. Like Klose, he took opponent Zach Reese to the ground. Like Solecki, Reese tried to apply a submission, this time a triangle choke.

And, like Solecki, he immediately regretted that decision.

Brundage hoisted Reese into the air before slamming him down, adding some heavy punches afterward to secure the knockout.

There have only been 14 slam knockouts in the entirety of UFC history. Yet somehow, improbably, both Nos. 13 and 14 came within mere minutes of one another.

UFC fighters couldn’t believe what they’d just seen.

On a night when the UFC probably would’ve been happy with a few good fights, it turns out they made history in a big, big way.