KSW’s 600-pound freakshow fight lasted all but 30 seconds.
2017 World’s Strongest Man winner Eddie Hall—best known for setting the deadlift world record in 2016 when he picked up more than 1,100 pounds—flattened KSW veteran and fellow former strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski in half a minute this weekend. The fight took place as part of KSW 105 on Saturday evening from the PreZero Arena in Gliwice, Poland.
Despite entering as a sizeable underdog, Hall won his first-ever pro MMA fight with a hectic finishing sequence against Pudzianowski.
After backing up the Polish talent with a thudding right hand, Hall landed a series of hammer punches from a clinch position. These shots—some of which seemingly connected on the back of Pudzianowski’s head—caused him to fall to the mat. After quickly getting back up to his feet, the 267-pound fighter was miraculously tossed back to the ground by Hall.
Hall then went to the ground and finished the fight with punches only moments later.
With little to no combat sports experience under his belt, Hall admitted during interviews ahead of the fight that he was relying on an early finish to emerge with a win. Because of worries about his cardio, it was negotiated that the bout would be four-minute rounds instead of five — Hall had previously hoped it could be as short as two-minute frames.
But in the end, cardio wasn’t even a factor.
“[I] shocked myself, to be honest,” Hall said about his performance afterward. “I got the hardest punch on the planet. When that lands, it’s goodnight.”
While Hall was without a pro win to his name before Saturday, this weekend wasn’t his first-ever fight. The 37-year-old Englishman previously competed in an exhibition boxing match a few years back, and in a viral moment, once prevailed in a two-on-one MMA bout.
Pudzianowski has been a star in KSW for more than two decades, parlaying his weightlifting career into a 27-bout career in MMA. However, at 48 years old, it looks like his career is likely nearing its end. The Polish vet has suffered three straight finish losses in recent years, previously also losing to prominent names like Artur Szpilka and Mamed Khalidov.
While making note of the shots he consumed to the back of his head, Pudzianowski gave Hall credit for the win afterward: “Eddie was better, he won.”
Knockdown News 