Outside Source
Eddie Hall had a successful MMA debut, but it wasn’t without a few hiccups.
On Saturday, the former World’s Strongest Man won his MMA debut, knocking out fellow World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski in just 30 seconds at KSW 105. But while “The Beast” took home his first official win inside the cage, he also learned a few things. For starters, Hall was not ready to go when the official attempted to start the round, leading to some confusion at the outset of the action.
“My bad,” Hall said in a post-fight interview posted to his TikTok. “I thought you have your drink, and then the referee says the rules, and then you touch gloves. It’s different here in Poland. My apologies. That’s my inexperience. This is my first MMA fight. So my apologies for that.”
Hall rebounded quickly, and once the fight started, it didn’t take long for “The Beast” to make his presence known. Though Pudzianowski was the far more experienced fighter, Hall came out hot, stunning Pudzianowski with an early combination. Pudzianowski attempted to take Hall down, but “The Beast” flung his fellow strongman to the canvas and battered him with punches until the referee intervened.
However, during Hall’s barrage, a few punches strayed to the back of Pudzianowski’s head, something the 48-year-old noted following the loss. And for that, Hall also showed contrition.
“I sort of threw that first jab, he bounced back, and I could see the fear in his eyes,” Hall said. “So I threw a one-two, it was that quick, he dropped his guard, and I caught him with that second one. That’s when his eyes rolled, and I just kept that pressure on, threw him around, and just kept plowing my fist into his head as hard as I could. …
“Obviously, when he was on the floor, I was just hammerfisting,” Hall said. “You just lose — again, my apologies, [it was] my first fight. I think I hit him once or twice in the back of the head. Then I heard the ref shout at me, and it clicked, and then I went back to the face. So again, my apologies. My experience — I wouldn’t like to be hit in the back of the head, so I’m sorry, Mariusz. But these things happen. It was an accident.”
Following Hall’s win, the question quickly turned to what’s next for MMA’s newest attraction? Before the fight, KSW CEO Martin Lewandowski suggested the winner would be a fun matchup for PFL heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, and while Hall didn’t shoot that idea down, he did make it clear what he’s looking for in his next MMA foray.
“Jon Jones,” Hall said in a separate post-fight scrum (h/t Marcin Mic). “Just kidding. No Jon Jones. I’ve got to step back. I’ve got to evaluate. If the rematch with Mariusz is there, I’d like to do the rematch with Mariusz. Two-minute rounds, like we agreed on the first time. But I’ve got no aspirations to be a ranked fighter. I don’t want to be No. 1 in KSW. So I’m going to take fights that make sense to me. If they can find me another World’s Strongest Man that wants to fight, I think that makes sense. I don’t want to fight KSW No. 1.”
This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
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