Ex-UFC fighter Alexey Oleinik received quite the rude welcome to bare-knuckle fighting after he got flattened in the first round in his fight against Geronimo Dos Santos at BKFC 71 from Dubai on Friday.
The noted grappler struggled to show off his hands against a bigger, stronger opponent in Dos Santos, who outweighed him by over 30 pounds when they stepped on the scale just 24 hours ago.
After some early exchanges in the clinch, Dos Santos stepped into the pocket where he launched a devastating right hand that blasted Oleinik behind the ear and sent him crashing to the canvas in a heap.
Oleinik actually stayed down on the canvas for several minutes before the 47-year-old Russian finally sat up and got to his feet with the help of medical personnel.
The fight ended at just 1:49 in the opening round with Dos Santos scoring the highlight-reel knockout.
Dos Santos, who actually had one bare-knuckle fight on his record prior to Friday’s knockout, looked like a welcome addition to the BKFC heavyweight division where another former UFC fighter in Ben Rothwell currently reigns as champion.
