Bellator 211 was set to be another big win for Alessio Sakara in his native Italy, but apparently, someone forgot to give Kent Kauppinen the memo.
With Bellator returning to Italy over the weekend in the second of back-to-back events, Alessio Sakara was back in action. He headlined the Bellator 211 card, taking on English invader Kent Kauppinen. The light heavyweight affair saw Italy’s Sakara looking to make it two straight wins; he’d won four of his last five bouts total. Kauppinen, meanwhile, had lost two straight.
England’s Kauppinen was on the outside early, but stayed moving, and changed levels looking for openings for his strikes. A right hand connected on Sakara early, which seemed the hurt him, at least momentarily. Sakara then slipped, no worse for the wear. But as he walked down Kauppinen, a counter floored the Italian on his way in! The instant knockout silenced the crowd. It was a left hand that did the job, landing on the jaw and snapping Sakara’s head to the side. The ref and Kauppinen himself checked on Sakara after, though he was able to stand for the decision to be read out.
💥😳@KauppinenKent shocks the Italian faithful after his big KO of Alessio Sakara#Bellator211 pic.twitter.com/1qxldKpATl
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 1, 2018
Kauppinen moved back into the win column with the victory — with all of his wins coming via stoppage. After a night full of finishes, the main event’s was arguably the biggest, and very much the biggest upset.
Kent Kauppinen def. Alessio Sakara by knockout, Round 1, 1:10
