An interesting thing about minor league MMA: The skill level may not be the same, but the violence is just as intriguing. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching world champions or two dudes in Virginia, a big knee knockout is still a sight to behold. Especially a big knee knockout that causes its victim to spin around completely before face-planting to the mat.
It went down last month at a VCFC event in Danville, Virginia. Chris Henderson got his second win via KO out of his three fights against Chris Gardner in the first at 0:59. This is an amateur fight, so the loss won’t end up on Gardner’s record, but the video (and the gifs) will stay on the internet forever. Maybe he can get an audition with a ballet company out of it. That was a pretty on point pirouette, after all.
The video comes via AXS TV’s Inside MMA, the best place to find wild regional finishes. Host Bas Rutten says, “This looks like WWE to me! I’m not saying it is, but….” That’s certainly an accurate depiction. I’d say it’s Ric Flair-ian in it’s ridiculousness. But it’s also perfectly possible if you factor in Gardner pulling back to escape Henderson’s plum hold on his neck, plus the force of the knee and sudden release of the hold. Sh*t like this happens in MMA all the time. Bounce enough skulls off enough knees and eventually you’re going to get some entertaining physics like this. (Via AXS TV Fights)