Tag: Coner Hignett

Cage Warriors 120: Kent Kauppinen claims first decision win, becomes instant contender

After a career spent winning his fights inside the distance, Kent Kauppinen marked his Cage Warriors debut with a first: A decision win.

[autotag]Kent Kauppinen[/autotag] marked his debut as a Cage Warriors fighter with a first: A decision win.

Former Bellator campaigner Kauppinen (13-6) had claimed each of his previous victories inside the distance, but was forced to battle all the way to the scorecards against former middleweight title challenger [autotag]Jamie Richardson[/autotag] at Cage Warriors 120 in London as he positioned himself as a serious title contender at 185 pounds.

The first round saw Kauppinen immediately take the center of the cage as he walked down Richardson (9-7), who seemed happy to work off the back foot and frustrate the veteran. Despite his aggressive positioning, Kauppinen was economical with his output through the opening five minutes as he spent much of the round trying to draw shots from Richardson to open his man up for counter punches.

Round 2 saw Richardson give Kauppinen what he wanted by upping his work rate and giving the former Bellator man opportunities to counter. A solid lead uppercut reminded Kauppinen that he had to be wary, however, as both men started to load up in the middle round.

Richardson worked the jab well and followed up with some decent straight shots, while Kauppinen, after finding his man’s chin a little hard to locate with his counters, switched up his attack and connected with a thumping body shot.

Kauppinen came out of his corner for the final round and immediately looked to connect with big shots, while Richardson stayed elusive on the back foot. After a clinch battle against the cage, Kauppinen again tried to walk down Richardson, and fended off a takedown attempt from the former title challenger.

Then, with 35 seconds remaining in the fight, Kauppinen made the crucial breakthrough. He dropped his man with a huge right hand but, rather than follow him to the mat in search of a ground and pound finish, he called for Richardson to get back to his feet. He then connected with a big body kick and, even though he was subsequently taken down, Kauppinen connected with a succession of elbows off his back to put the seal on his most decisive round of the fight.

After the final horn had sounded, all three judges were in agreement as Kauppinen earned scores of 29-28 across the board to seal a debut victory and push him right into the title mix at 185 pounds.

MMA Junkie’s ‘Knockout of the Month’ for March: A wild brawl ends with one punch

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2020.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for March.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

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The Nominees

Danaa Batgerel def. Guido Cannetti at UFC 248

[autotag]Danaa Batgerel[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) got his first UFC victory in impressive fashion when he became the first to knock out Guido Cannetti (8-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) in their bantamweight matchup.

The fighter from Mongolia landed an absolute bomb of a left hand on Cannetti about three minutes into the opening round of the bout. Cannetti was unable to recover from Batgerel’s power and the fight was called off.

Sean O’Malley def. Jose Quinonez at UFC 248

“The Suga Show” had a triumphant reboot when bantamweight prospect [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) made quick work of Jose Quinonez (8-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in his first fight in two years.

O’Malley, who had been out of action since March 2018 due to injuries and a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency situation that ultimately resulted in his innocence, put on a striking clinic against a helpless Quinonez to finish the fight in just 122 seconds.

Beneil Dariush def. Drakkar Klose at UFC 248

[autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag] (18-4-1 MMA, 12-4-1 UFC) produced arguably the greatest highlight of his career when he scored a spectacular knockout of Drakkar Klose (11-1-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in the second round of their lightweight bout.

After a solid first round, the fight got crazy in the second when Dariush and Klose slugged it out and stunned each other. Dariush was able to push through it better, though, and finally landed a devastated overhand left that sent Klose bouncing off the fence and crashing into the canvas.

Gilbert Burns def. Demian Maia at UFC on ESPN+ 28

[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] (18-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) continued a successful campaign in the welterweight division when he beat former title challenger Demian Maia (28-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC).

After getting taken down by Maia and surviving his famous back take, Burns managed to get the fight back to the feet where he connected with a sharp left hook, sending Maia straight to the canvas. Burns hesitated, thinking the shot ended the fight, but the referee didn’t jump in. Burns then followed up with rapid ground-and-pound, forcing the referee to wave it off.

Coner Hignett def. Darren O’Gorman at Cage Warriors 113

[autotag]Coner Hignett[/autotag] (8-5) lived up to his nickname of “The Hand Grenade” when he blew up for a brilliant win over Darren O’Gorman (6-5).

Hignett pulled off one of the best comebacks and knockouts of the year thus far when he stopped O’Gorman in the third round of their flyweight matchup. A series of precise and powerful right hands were the culprit behind Hignett’s comeback.

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The Winner: Beneil Dariush

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Dariush didn’t need jiu-jitsu to win at UFC 248.

The UFC veteran scored one of the best finishes of his career against Klose, but it didn’t come by way of his nifty ground game. Dariush knocked out Klose in the second round of their lightweight contest after a wild exchange that had the crowd on its feet.

The final seconds were completely opposite to what went down in the first round. For the majority of the opening round, Dariush controlled Klose as he had taken his back and worked for a standing rear-naked choke.

In the second round, Klose attempted to make up for lost ground and came out swinging hard at Dariush. Klose connected, wobbled Dariush and began to pressure him looking for the finish. But instead of going into defense mode, the Iranian fighter stayed in the pocket and managed to switch the momentum with a hard hook, hurting Klose.

Once rocked, Dariush followed up with a brutal left hook that sent Klose straight to the canvas. It was Dariush’s first KO win since stopping James Vick in 2016.

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[opinary poll=”knockout-of-the-month-for-march-2020_mma-NAg80v” customer=”mmajunkie”]

Coner Hignett stages massive comeback, KOs Darren O’Gorman at Cage Warriors 113

Coner Hignett lived up to his nickname of “The Hand Grenade” at Cage Warriors 113.

[autotag]Coner Hignett[/autotag] lived up to his nickname of “The Hand Grenade” at Cage Warriors 113 when he blew up for a brilliant win over Darren O’Gorman.

Hignett (8-5) pulled off one of the best comebacks and knockouts of the year thus far when he stopped O’Gorman (6-5) in the third round of their flyweight matchup, which took place at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, and streamed on ESPN+.

A series of precise and powerful right hands were the culprit behind Hignett’s comeback, which you can watch below (via Twitter):

Hignett’s comeback to win truly came from the brink of defeat. Aside from the finish, O’Gorman was in control of the action for almost the entirety of the contest, including a deep triangle choke that was in place for several minutes.

Ultimately, Hignett endured the adversity before finding a home for his beautiful fight-ending series of punches.

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