In a truly blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, a bare-knuckle boxer knocked his opponent out within two seconds of a fight – sending combat sports fans wild on social media.
At BKFC 69 in Atlanta, American fighter Justin Watson fought hometown hero Chris Ferrell in the first bout of the main card.
With the fighters facing off, referee Bryan Miner started the bout and Watson instantly uncorked an overhand right that connected with Ferrell’s forehead.
Ferrell fell face first onto the mat and then over himself as the referee frantically waved his hands to stop the fight as Watson made a throat-slashing gesture.
Watson officially recorded a knockout time of two seconds – making it the fastest recorded knockout in the history of combat sports. In reality, Watson knocked out Ferrell within a second before the referee took another second before ending the fight.
Surprisingly, after he was able to get up, Ferrell immediately began protesting the referee’s decision.
Justin Watson (black trunks) moments before knocking out opponent Chris Ferrell (white trunks)
After delivering the vicious blow, Watson made a throat-slitting motion while Ferrell struggled
Per The Canadian Press, Watson entered the bout as a plus-600 underdog on betting sites.
Unlike other combat sports, the BKFC has fighters start just outside of striking distance. Boxers and those competing in other forms of MMA typically start from a much further distance. This means it might be possible that this record is never broken.
While not many people watched the fight in real time, social media clips of the knockout went viral with former double UFC champion Conor McGregor posting the video to his Instagram story with the caption ‘The worlds fastest KO! WOW!’
Professional boxing’s fastest ever knockout came in 2007 when Phil Williams dispatched Brandon Burke in ten seconds, according to BetMGM.
As for the UFC, its fastest KO came in a welterweight bout at UFC 239 when Jorge Masvidal delivered a flying knee to Ben Askren in just five seconds.
