For casual viewers, the attraction of MMA is seeing people’s souls willingly being battered out of them.
Whether it be a flying knee or uppercut, the vicarious thrill of a fighter knocking out another in brutal fashion is irresistible.
The tactical grappling and submission side of a bout may be considered boring by some: but Aviv Gozali’s latest victory is both seriously impressive and very cheeky.
Check out the video below:
At Bellator 225 on Saturday (August 24), Gozali and Eduard Muravitskiy’s bout came to an end incredibly quickly – just 11 seconds in fact.
As the tussle kicked off, the fighters approached each other, with Muravitskiy appearing to gesturing to touch gloves before exchanging punches.
The 18-year-old Israeli lightweight had other ideas; he slides across the floor into an Imanari roll, setting up Muravitskiy’s demise in a painful heel hook.
It’s the fastest submission in Bellator history, prevailing over his opponent in just 11 seconds.
The fastest submission finish in UFC history – a separate MMA fighting organisation – is just nine seconds, with Oleg Taktarov choking out Anthony Macias.
ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani says it’s a contender for submission of the year:
Gozali’s fighting career is off to a positive start – with this victory under his belt, he’s now three-for-three under the Bellator banner, with all those wins coming via submission.
This was Muravitskiy’s seventh straight defeat – however it’s only the second time he’s been stopped in the opening round, and his second loss via submission overall.
It’s an apt insight into how the Connecticut event unfolded; not a single fight went past the third round, with half the fights ending by KO/TKO while the rest were won by submission.
Earlier in the night, former UFC welterweight Sabah Homasi made his return to Bellator with a killer entrance – he knocked out his opponent, Micah Terrill, with a right hand in just 17 seconds.
Check out the clip below:
While we all take immense enjoyment out of watching these fighters knock lumps out of one another, the damage they do is no joke.
Just recently, UFC welterweight Mike Perry was rushed to hospital with breathing problems after suffering one of the worst broken noses in UFC history.
In July this year, Jorge Masvidal made history when he beat Ben Askren with the fastest knockout ever seen in UFC.
Check out the video below:
Would you rather lose by a vicious knockout, or risk your arm or leg being broken in a deep lock? For me, I’ll stick to being a spectator.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.