April wasn’t quite as loaded as March was when it comes to massive amounts of knockouts. But what we did see was some great action all across the globe – as well as some pivotal knockouts and submissions.
In March, the Knockout of the Month was Brian Ortega doing the unthinkable by knocking out Frankie Edgar at UFC 222.
In April, we were treated to some big knockouts all across the board. From Olivier Aubin-Mercier opening up the month with a shocking KO win against Evan Dunham to Fedor Emelianenko closing out the month by knocking out yet another former UFC champion. And that’s not even including all the chaos in between.
Neither of the above will get the nod this month, though. Earlier in the month, EFC two-weight champion Dricus “StillKnocks” Du Plessis looked to pick up his third belt when he made his KSW debut vs. Roberto Soldic. This is MMASucka’s Knockout of the Month for April 2018.
MMASucka’s Knockout of the Month for April 2018: Dricus Du Plessis picks up third belt with an emphatic KSW knockout
On April 14, live from the beautiful Hala Stulecia in Wroclaw, Poland, we saw a spectacular night of action at KSW 43.
In the night’s main event, EFC Worldwide Middleweight and Welterweight Champion – Dricus Du Plessis – made his KSW debut to challenge newly minted welterweight king Roberto Soldic.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher for both men. Soldic enters the fight as champion after making his KSW debut on short-notice, funnily enough, replacing Du Plessis vs. then champion Borys Mankowski. He entered the title fight as an unknown and came out the champion after putting a beating on Mankowski.
Opposite him will be Du Plessis, who essentially enters the contest representing an entire promotion as their dual-weight champion. Despite him having a couple of knockouts on his resume, this was essentially a striker vs. grappler match-up. As the feared striker Roberto “RoboCop” Soldic faces the submission machine Dricus Du Plessis.
After an incredibly tense and competitive round one, the finish came in round two. As Roberto Soldic looked to close the distance to land one of his signature barrages, Du Plessis landed a clean check-hook to floor the Croatian.
The South African pounced and shockingly knocked Soldic out with the follow-up punches. In the midst of a seven-fight knockout streak for Soldic that saw him be crowned KSW champion, Dricus Du Plessis stuns Roberto Soldic with a scintillating KO in round two.
He improves to 12-1 at just 24-years-old, winning his eighth-straight, including three consecutive title wins in two weight classes across two promotions. 23-year-old Soldic drops to 13-3, getting finished for the first time in his young career.
To no one’s surprise, this also took home the KSW 43 Performance of the Night.
What a Night! What a Fight! We have the new welterweight champion!!!@dricusduplessis #KSW43 pic.twitter.com/HvbIL4CWdK
— KSW (@KSW_MMA) April 14, 2018
Check out a nice list of honorable mentions for Knockout of the Month below!
- ACB 84 | Islam Siszbulatow def. Luis Nogueira via KO1 (Straight Right)
- ACB 84 | Yusup Umarov def. Darren Smith Jr. via KO1 (Left Hook + GNP)
- UFC 223 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Evan Dunham via KO1 (Body Knees + Punches)
- CES 49 | Jeremiah Wells def. Gary Balletto Jr. via KO1 (Right Cross + GNP)
- Bellator 196 | Adam Borics def. Teodor Nikolov via KO2 (Flying Knee)
- Titan FC 49 | Pumahele Soriano def. Rafael Celestino via KO1 (Punches)
- Pancrase 295 | Misuhisa Sunabe def. Shinya Murofushi via KO2 (Slam + GNP)
- Pancrase 295 | Darani Date def. Hanyo Oniyama via KO2 (Headkick + GNP)
- UFC on FOX 29 | Gilbert Burns def. Dan Moret via KO2 (Punches)
- KSW 43 | Damian Janikowski def. Yannick Bahati via TKO1 (Punches)
- XFL 37 | Edgar Diaz def. Carlos Briseno via KO1 (Punches)
- XFL 37 | Emilio Cuellar def. Erick Villaluz via KO1 (Flying Knee)
- Brave CF 11 | Rodrigo Cavalheiro def. Alessandro Gambulino via KO1 (Elbows)
- Bellator 197 | Juliana Velasquez def. Rebecca Ruth via KO2 (Body Kick)
- ONE: Heroes of Honor | Kevin Belingon def. Andrew Leone via TKO2 (Spinning Body Kick + Grounded Knees)
- LFA 37 | Demarques Jackson def. Hamilton Ash via KO1 (Right Uppercut)
- Combate Estrellas II | David Martinez def. Enrique Barragan via KO1 (Right Hook)
- Combate Estrellas II | Marcelo Rojo def. Fabian Galvan via KO1 (Overhand Right + GNP)
- UFC FN 128 | David Branch def. Thiago Santos via KO1 (Overhand Right + GNP)
- UFC FN 128 | Dan Hooker def. Jim Miller via KO1 (Knee)
- UFC FN 128 | Siyar Bahadurzada def. Luan Chagas via KO2 (Body Kick + Punch)
- KOP 61 | Zack Shaw def. Alex Trevino via KO1 (Powerbomb)
- SpaceBoxing | Enoc Solves def. Bilal Anreis via KO1 (Left Hook)
- Berkut Young Eagles 3 | Daniyal Elbaev def. Timur Aydemirov via KO1 (Punches)
- EFC Worldwide 69 | Billy Oosthuizen def. Peter De Klerk via KO1 (Straight Right + GNP)
- EFC Worldwide 69 | Pietie Coxen def. HP Van Staden via KO1 (GNP)
- Celtic Gladiator 20 | Maciej Szczepaniak def. Patryk Dunski via KO1 (Body Kick + GNP)
- Celtic Gladiator 20 | Piotr Poniedzialek def. Tomasz Terlikowski via KO2 (Headkick)
- Megdan Fighting 3 | Milos Janicic def. Marko Radakvic via KO3 (Standing Elbow)
- Shooto Brasil 82 | Pedro Nobre def. Mario Varvalho via KO2 (Straight Right)
- Shooto Brasil 82 | Hudson Silva def. Dewis Junior via KO1 (Body Kick)
- Bellator 198 | Fedor Emelianenko def. Frank Mir via KO1 (Uppercut + GNP)
- Berkut Young Eagles 4 | Anzor Shakhmurzaev def. Igor Litosik via KO1 (Punches)
- Berkut Young Eagles 4 | Rizvan Liev def. Alexey Bondarchuk via KO1 (Punches)
