MMA’s strange corners of the world are absolutely full of bizarre stories and matches that end up on the internet as strange footnotes in the history of the sport.
Fans of these brawls always search out these obscure clips because truly jaw-dropping things can happen in the octagon at the lower levels of the sport.
Absolute Championship Berkut 53 was one of those events that just kept on giving Saturday night and while most of the world watched the Slam Dunk Contest over in the NBA, fight fans were treated to insane finishing strikes that were worth the price of admission.
Dmitry Shestakov hasn’t had a ton of success in the cage, but his performance at ACB 53 will have people talking about him disposing of Mansur Arsakhanov for a while.
He managed to absolutely light up his fellow Russian fighter with a spinning hook kick that some are calling the best spinning kick knock-out since Edson Barboza destroyed Terry Etim in 2012.
Arsakhanov tried to catch this absolute whirlwind of a kick on the low end and paid the price when Shestakov’s heel connects with his temple straight on.
He falls back and it’s clear that the lights aren’t even on by the time he hits the canvas as there was nothing to block the sheer savagery of such a strike.
As a lower rung fighter, you have to pretty much live for your 15 seconds of internet fame and Shestakov got his with this insane KO.