MMA referees say “protect yourself at all times” for a reason.
The Titan FC 83 card in Miami saw one of the fastest knockouts in mixed martial arts history on Friday when Luis Hernandez knocked out Brian Topp with a single headbutt. Topp immediately hit the ground and the fight was called.
It’s worth noting, though, that Hernandez seemed to pull off the old “fake tap glove” trick, which will make this highlight controversial:
Topp clearly pushes out his left arm to meet Hernandez’s extended right arm when Hernandez fires the kick, so it’s hard to argue what happened there. The only question is whether Hernandez’s move was dirty, and if that even matters.
Incredibly, the fight was billed as a one-second knockout, which would make it the shortest fight possible, but at least two seconds clearly passed before Hernandez hit Topp. It’s still faster than Jorge Masvidal’s famous flying kick over Ben Askren, the fastest knockout in UFC history, but it wasn’t a second.
The win, if you want to call it that, improves Hernandez’s career record to 3-0, while Topp drops to 1-5.