
Unbeaten featherweight prospect Ilia Topuria promised a first-round knockout against Ryan Hall, and he delivered on that promise, as he snapped Hall’s eight-fight winning streak in emphatic fashion.
A minute in, Hall tried to roll into a leg lock but missed the mark, forcing the fight back to the feet. Moments later he did it again and again, but Topuria wasn’t having it. Midway through the round, Hall did get a hold of his foe, but Topuria punched his way out, and he continued to do so whenever Hall tried to grapple. And in the closing minute of the round, Topuria went on the attack, and as the fight went to the mat, he unleashed a series of ground strikes that brought the bout to an end. The official time of referee Jason Herzog’s stoppage was 4:47 of round one.