Watch as Andre Petroski knocks himself out at UFC Atlantic City (Video)
By Amy Kaplan
On Saturday during the preliminary portion of UFC Atlantic City, a weird finish occurred at the end of the Andre Petroski vs. Jacob Malkoun fight.
Just 30 seconds into the second round, Petroski went in for a takedown a bit too quickly and appeared to knock his head into the leg or knee of Malkoun throwing him off balance and onto the canvas. From there Malkoun capitalized and finished the fight effectively winning via TKO. But if not for Petroski's takedown entry, the fight might have gone another way.
Watch the ending sequence below.
Andre Petroski knocks himself out by hitting Jacob Malkoun’s hip 😳 pic.twitter.com/3Z3nkrGJYl
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 30, 2024
Petrovski now has back-to-back losses. He lost to Michel Pereira at IN October 2023, also via TKO. Prior to those losses he was on a five fight win streak and was likely looking to get back into the win column and back on the run. It didn't go his way this time.
Malkoun was also coming off a first-round finish in his last fight. He lost to Cody Brundage in September last year.
Here's how fans reacted to the weird finish, including a few with different theories about what happened.
Vic Davila is saying on the Spanish commentary that Petroski might’ve gotten a flash KO from impacting Malkoun’s hip? No freaking way
— N (@prettyinaGi) March 30, 2024
Looked like that clipping left hand from Malkoun that stunned him to me. Only thing that makes sense pic.twitter.com/d0kxLJDlyr
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) March 30, 2024
Wow Petroski shot right into malkoun’s hip and knocked himself out. Crazy. #UFCAtlanticCity
— Daniel Rubenstein (@dannyrube) March 30, 2024
What a crazy ending for Malkoun.. It looks like Petroski clashed temple to hip bone on that takedown entry and rocked himself bad!
— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) March 30, 2024
Big W for the Aussie!! 🇦🇺 #UFCAtlanticCity
But despite what people thought, it was Petroski's own coaches who confirmed the collision with Malkoun's body is what caused the ending sequence.
Per Petroski’s corner, Andre hit his head on Malkoun’s hip during that sequence and it caused a split on Andre’s head. That’s what caused the strange finish #UFCAtlanticCity
— Jake Noecker (@JakeNoeckerMMA) March 30, 2024
Tough break for Malkoun.