Photo by Esther Lin for MMA Fighting.
Stephen Thompson entered the octagon with a lot of expectations on his shoulders due to his vaunted karate and kickboxing skills. He didn't disappoint, landing a brutal head kick on opponent Dan Stittgen and winning via knockout at 4:13 of round one.
The first round started off somewhat cautiously, with Stittgen trying to figure out Thompson's unique stance and dealing with Thompson's arsenal of kicks. Stittgen tried to work leg kicks for a while, but ended up eating kicks from Thompson instead. And then out of nowhere, Thompson nailed Stittgen with a head kick that put him out cold. Thompson had landed a punch before that, and the kick came from such an angle that Stittgen didn't even see it coming. Very impressive.
Both men were making their UFC debuts in this welterweight bout. Thompson entered the bout undefeated with a 5-0 MMA record and a 57-0 kickboxing record. He specializes in karate. Stittgen entered the bout with a 7-1 record, and had finished six of the seven wins inside the distance.
0 recs | 13 comments
Gif?
Kefka - February 4, 2012
Seriously?!
I thought it was a body kick and all the sudden this fool is ktfo’d! Started off the fight with his hands down and shut Goldberg up with all that not doing enough damage talk. Was that a question mark kick marks?
cager - February 4, 2012
Any bundle of sticks would know that is a question mark kick
HaterSlayer - February 4, 2012
What a kick. Sure packed a lot of power.
lwood24 - February 4, 2012
wow
they said this kid is the American version of machida….i guess he is lol
3cheerios - February 4, 2012
Also..
Good to see welterweight starting to explode with all these prospects out of nowhere. I personally found it to be the premier wrestler division for a while. Now they have there own Daniel son so its whatever.
cager - February 4, 2012
woot woot
Grappo - February 4, 2012
NINJA!!
Kid thinks he’s Jason David Frank with that power ranger flip at the end.
cager - February 4, 2012
Beauty!!
The prelims are so awesome. These guys always bring the fight.
MeatballHero - February 4, 2012
Incredible!
Looks like not even the shin, only his foot is landing. The angle is also impressive.
killphil - February 4, 2012
Not just the angle, but the timing between the hook and the kick. It’s pretty amazing. It reminds me of this.
GogoPlatter - February 4, 2012
hahahaha
GotBJJ - February 5, 2012
“smell it, smell it, smell it… now take it”
GotBJJ - February 5, 2012
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