England’s Darren Godfrey kicked off Power Slap 22 in style with a wild knockout.
Godfrey was knocked down twice by Kazakh opponent Daniyar Toktarov with the first two slaps, but produced a monstrous strike with his second go to knock his opponent out cold.
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‘The Tarantula’ had never been knocked down in his Power Slap career until the event in Serbia, which took place before the UFC’s debut event in Belgrade on Saturday.
But after measuring up just once in the second round, Godfrey landed clean on Toktarov’s jaw, forcing his opponent to face-plant straight into the podium before flying backwards unconscious.
Godfrey reacts to brutal Power Slap KO
“I feel like I’ve just done what I always do, right? Knock everybody out,” Godfrey said after his fourth KO under the Power Slap banner, owned by UFC CEO Dana White.
“I’m not gonna lie, he hits hard, just not hard enough.”
Asked what he wants next, the No.1-ranked middleweight responded: “I want the belt. I want the belt. That’s all I want, give it to me.”
Razor sharp
Just one fight after Godfrey’s stoppage, fellow British slap professional Louis Robinson, who is a lift engineer by trade, made it two for two for the English fighters.
‘Razor’ made a successful Power Slap debut in October by scoring a third-round KO of James Siekmann.
And he ended his second outing even quicker, stopping Pavol Horelican with his first strike.
Robinson withstood Horelican’s initial slap before delivering a thunderous blow that busted the Slovakian wide open.
Horelican’s eyes rolled back in his head as he stumbled back onto the canvas.
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UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, who was on commentary duties for the card, uttered, ‘I’ve never seen that before,’ as blood leaked on the floor.
It was unclear whether Horelican’s mouth or cheek had split open, but the fight was quickly waved off.
“England, baby!” Robinson shouted as he exited the arena.
Power Slap 22 went down at Belgrade Arena, where Serbia’s own Uros Medic fights Daniel Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Belgrade this weekend.
White’s Power Slap success
Slap fighting has gained widespread popularity over the last few years due to its viral moments.
Last year, White announced a whopping commercial deal for his promotion, with cryptocurrency platform VeChain reportedly paying $76million per year to serve as its main sponsor.
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The deal moved Power Slap events exclusively to YouTube.
And its previous $30m broadcast deal with streaming platform Rumble ended.
In May, White claimed Power Slap is the fastest-growing success story in his career, saying ‘it does a billion views a month on social media.’
