Gökhan Saki said he was going to take over the UFC and the Dutch-Turkish kickboxing star got off to a strong start Friday.
“The Turkish Tyson,” as he’s known, made his promotional debut and earned a first-round knockout over Henrique da Silva at a UFC Fight Night event at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Saki had da Silva in trouble early, peppering his Brazilian opponent with vicious punches, and just as it looked like the UFC newcomer was beginning to fade, he landed a left hook that ended the fight.
WOW Wild KO from @GokhanTheRebel at #UFCJapan! pic.twitter.com/MDHO16N6mm
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) September 23, 2017
The 33-year-old native of Schiedam, Netherlands, signed with the UFC in May. He holds notable wins over kickboxing greats Tyrone Spong, Nathan Corbett and Ray Sefo among others while also competing against Badr Hari, Rico Verhoeven, Remy Bonjasky, and Semmy Schilt. He even broke his arm in a K-1 World Grand Prix match with current UFC heavyweight star Alistair Overeem in 2010 – Overeem just happened to be cageside to witness Saki’s UFC debut.
Saki, who managed to land 38 of the 60 strikes he threw in his bout with da Silva, hadn’t fought in more than two years. Saki’s mixed martial arts record now sits at 1-1. He lost his MMA debut back in 2004 when he accepted a fight against one-time UFC fighter James Zikic despite admittedly not knowing what MMA was at the time.
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