Christine Stanley took a page out of UFC middleweight Uriah Hall’s book over the weekend by rendering her opponent unconscious with a devastating spinning hook kick just five seconds into the first round.
In a weekend dominated by back-to-back UFC events, the Team Hurricane Awesome flyweight exploded into the spotlight on Saturday night after recording one of the best knockouts of the year at Xplode Fight Series: Tidal Wave.
Stanley, a teammate of top UFC bantamweight contender Liz Carmouche, knocked out Katie Anita Runyan with a beautiful spinning hook kick that could go down as the single greatest knockout in the history of women’s MMA. The crowd in Valley Center, California, erupted with applause after witnessing the spectacular, highlight-reel finish.
Team Hurricane Awesome has since posted the video of the knockout on the official team Instagram page, imploring that the talented striker needs to be competing in all-star female promotion Invicta Fighting Championships.
MMA fans likely recall Hall landing a similar kick on Adam Cella in the elimination round of The Ultimate Fighter 17. UFC President Dana White called it “one of the nastiest knockouts I’ve ever seen in the fight business.”
Outside of a lone submission loss, Stanley has looked relatively impressive in MMA. All of her professional wins have come by first-round knockout. If she continues to improve her ground game, this weekend just might end up being an early taste of a serious prospect on the rise in the women’s flyweight division.
Whoever says women lack knockout power certainly hasn’t been paying attention to Stanley.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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