JooSang Yoo scored a Conor McGregor like knockout to kickstart UFC 316 in brutal vogue on Saturday night time.
Yoo, who has been in comparison with a younger McGregor, knocked out Jeka Saragih with a thunderous left hand solely 28 seconds into the primary spherical.
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The KO has drawn comparisons to McGregor’s iconic stoppage over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in December 2015.
Saragih overstretched with a proper hand and shortly discovered himself facedown on the canvas, as Yoo took one step again and floored him with a left hook.
“That was so clear!” UFC commentator Joe Rogan mentioned on the published dwell on the Prudential Middle in New Jersey after the knockout.
“Oh my goodness that was so clear… what a left hook! Proper out of the McGregor playbook.”
UFC followers had comparable reactions to the South Korean’s end as one took to X and mentioned: “That was a wild knockout!”
A second added: “That was what I referred to as an announcement!”
Whereas a 3rd referred to as for UFC CEO Dana White to splash the money, saying: “Not unhealthy for a UFC debut! $50k secured.”
Yoo put himself in prime place to earn a $50,000 Efficiency of the Night time bonus from his bosses following the knockout.
He earned his McGregor popularity combating below the banner of ZFN, which is owned by legendary UFC fighter Chan Sung Jung, also referred to as ‘The Korean Zombie.’
The 31-year-old was instantly in comparison with the Irishman attributable to his assured, slick hanging.
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Nonetheless, throughout his post-fight press convention, Yoo addressed these comparisons, and it does not look like one thing he’ll be embracing anytime quickly.
“Conor McGregor? No,” he mentioned, talking on the hanging ‘blueprint’ of McGregor that Rogan and fellow pundit Daniel Cormier mentioned forward of his struggle.
He later added that he ‘felt unhealthy’ concerning the nasty knockout of Saragih.
Nonetheless, it was some solution to make an impression on UFC bosses as Yoo is ready for an imminent return to the Octagon.
This was his UFC debut, having impressed at ZFN, AFC and Courageous CF, going unbeaten in his first eight MMA bouts.
His struggle with Saragih was within the featherweight division, which is presently dominated by Australian nice Alexander Volkanovski.
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Yoo had acquired the New Jersey crowd off their toes after two fights had resulted in unanimous choices at the beginning of the night time.
The UFC 316 preliminary fights additionally witnessed Waldo Cortes-Acosta defeat veteran Serghei Spivac by way of the identical final result.
In the meantime, the undefeated 15-0 Azamat Murzakanov stopped Brendson Ribeiro at gentle heavyweight within the first spherical and referred to as for a primary occasion problem subsequent.