Glowacki wins MMA debut via one-punch knockout off of his back

Artur Szpilka also moved to 3-0 in MMA with a knockout of Mariusz Pudzianowski

Polish MMA promotion KSW held a mega-event in Warsaw this afternoon that featured two familiar faces from the sweet science. In the co-main event, former heavyweight contender Artur Szpilka, who entered the cage 2-0 in his new sport, survived a lengthy stretch on his back to batter former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski into submission.

It was former cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki who stole the show on the prelims, however. Opponent Patryk Tołkaczewski immediately took Glowacki down and moved to full mount, one of the most dominant positions in the sport. Rather than use any of the many jiu-jitsu techniques designed to escape such situations, Glowacki decided to do what he does best and punch his way out.

99.99% of the time, this is a terrible idea. You’ll recall Claressa Shields attempting this to zero effect in her decision loss to Abigail Montes.

Apparently, she was just doing it wrong.

To be clear about how rare this is: I’ve been religiously following MMA for over a decade and this is only the second time I’ve ever seen this happen. This is the kind of move an overserved Buffalo Wild Wings patron would loudly suggest at the screen and Glowacki somehow made it work.

I’d be shocked if Glowacki had any sort of sustained MMA success outside of showcase fights with fellow pure strikers like, say, Szpilka, but he’s already secured his place in history.