Ouch! Super-heavyweight blows hammy after spamming spin attacks

MMA is a constantly evolving combat sports template. What started as a series of tournaments showcasing various martial arts disciplines and styles, pitted against one another to find out which was strongest (BJJ), slowly morphed into a sport dominated by grinding wrestlers. In the years since, however, as fighters across the world have adapted their training to the variety of grappling necessary to compete in the Octagon, strikers have surged to the forefront with more and more regularity.

As they do so, they bring a wealth of new and more creative techniques with them. The calf kick has caused a revolution in the way fighters target and think about low kicks. More consistent use of the jab and a focus on footwork has seen volume striking shoot through the roof. And there’s still lots of room to grow.

In Romania one man made his own attempt to alter the meta-game of mixed martial arts. Constantin Florin Danila took on super-heavyweight legend Alexandru ‘Sandu’ Lungu in the main event of Heroes Fight League 5: Bombers in Mioveni.

Standing 6’ 3” and weighing in at a whopping 331 lbs, Danila brought all the creativity with him to the cage, unleashing a barrage of spinning strikes on his unsuspecting opponent. Visibly shaken by a spinning backfist early in round 1, Lungu could only stumble after his twinkle-toed opponent, unable to land even a single strike. Fortunately for the 48-year-old former PRIDE and K-1 competitor, he didn’t have to.

Florin unleashed one backfist too many and pulled up grabbing at his groin and hamstring. After a brief attempt to call time out, the referee waved the bout off just 1:38 into the opening frame. You can check out the whole fight, in all it’s amazing glory, below.

A former Judo world champion, Lungu has largely been competing in kickboxing of late—where he’s currently riding a six fight winning streak stretching back to 2018. That same year marked Lungu’s last foray into MMA, where he picked up a loss to the UFC’s own Chris Barnett at Road FC 47 in Beijing, China—followed shortly afterward by a win via “smother” over a debuting opponent back home in Romania.

This latest victory brings his record to 18-5 in MMA, with a 16-2 kickboxing record to boot, and his world-class Judo accolades. A triple threat if ever there was one.