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Sport

28th May 2017

UFC star finds out the brutal way how sloppy takedowns can be punished

How NOT to change levels

Darragh Murphy

Knockout of the year candidate…

There are many ways to counter an opponent’s takedown attempt.

The most common way of ensuring that your back doesn’t end up on the mat is to sprawl, which involves stopping an opponent’s shot by throwing your legs backward and hips downwards.

Sometimes you see a fighter time an uppercut, the aim of which is to dissuade and frighten off an opponent from seeking a takedown.

And sometimes, you see a knee so very brutal that it makes you wonder why anyone would ever attempt to take a fighter down.

Marcin Held will certainly think twice before he dives on an opponent’s legs next time he takes to the Octagon .

The Polish lightweight attempted to drag his clash with Damir Hadzovic to the mat during the first fight on Sunday’s UFC Stockholm card.

As the third round got underway, Held threw caution to the wind as he pursued a grappling exchange.

Hadzovic had no interest in wrestling, though, and he fired a picture-perfect knee up the middle and robbed Held of his consciousness.

Ouch!