- Chinese athlete
Aerdake Apaer scored the first win of hisMMA career recently. - The manner in which he did so may see him in the running for Knockout of the Year.
The first victory of Aerdake Apaer's career looked like the sort of thing you'd normally see on a video game cheat code, or a martial arts film.
The MMA fighting novice competed against Guoxu Yang at the JCK Night Cage Series at Haikou in Hainan, China, on June 25.
And, judging by what went down just 28 seconds into that fight, it will be a night Apaer remembers forever.
As Yang looked to close the distance from long range to mid, Apaer took one step forward and, with great spatial awareness, put his weight onto his front foot, pushed off with his back to rotate his body 180 degrees, and struck his opponent's chin flush with the back of his right foot.
The maneuver looks incredibly impressive when you look at it frame by frame, like this:
Apaer keeps an eye on the distance between his opponent and himself
Apaer gets himself into position
Apaer pushes off from his front foot, rotates his body, and commits to the move
Apaer's foot connects with his opponent's face
To increase power, Apaer kicks through the target rather than stopping at the target
The shot leaves Guoxu Yang in a bad way, on the floor, and likely concussed
Watch the thrilling finish right here:
—UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) June 25, 2022
With victory, Apaer advanced his burgeoning pro MMA record to one win (one knockout) against two losses.
The bout was broadcast on UFC Fight Pass.