The “Road to UFC” series got off to a spectacular and scary start Thursday when he Zhang Mingyang scored a devastating knockout of Tuco Tokkos on Episode 1.
Tokkos, who came into the light heavyweight fight as a -675 betting favorite, caught by Mingyang’s punches late in the first round and went down in a heap. Mingyang added a few unnecessary and powerful shots to his opponent’s chin when he was down, earning the stoppage at 3:57 mark of Round 1.
After taking the knockout, Tokkos remained on the canvas for several minutes out cold. He eventually rose to his feet, but needed to be carried to the back by his coaches in a disoriented state.
Check out the replay of the brutal knockout below (via Twitter):
ZHANG MINGYANG WITH THE HUGE UPSET 💥
[ #RoadToUFC LIVE NOW on @UFCFightPass ] pic.twitter.com/0h2b10Sxo5
— UFC (@ufc) June 9, 2022
Absolutely horrifying knockout by Zhang Mingyang over -675 favorite Tuco Tokkos to open #RoadToUFC. He was down for a very, very long time. Scary. pic.twitter.com/pA1aeA24fP
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) June 9, 2022
The matchup between Mingyang and Tokkos was a non-tournament bout at “Road to UFC.” The fight took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore and streamed on UFC Fight Pass.