'Knockout of the year': Kickboxer Eduard Gafencu delivers stunning 'tornado kick' KO (VIDEO)
Romanian kickboxer Eduard Gafencu became the talk of the internet after his spectacular knockout victory over Dutchman Thomas Doeve at the Colosseum IX event in Bucharest.
Gafencu set up his spectacular finish by unloading a barrage of punches at his opponent, forcing him back into the corner. Once there, the Romanian striker bided his time, picked his moment, then unleashed a spectacular spinning tornado kick.
The technique landed flush on Doeve's chin, sending him to the canvas in a crumpled heap as the referee stepped in to immediately wave off the bout.
Tornado kick KO by Eduard Gafencu (Colloseum Tournament) pic.twitter.com/2bkIqLj90K
— Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) March 29, 2019
It was a stunning finish and one that had the commentators in raptures describing what they had just witnessed.
One claimed the finish from Gafencu was "the knockout of the year," but while the KO was certainly a spectacular one, there have been even more spectacular examples of the rarely-seen technique in competition.
The tornado kick was the technique that helped introduce British mixed martial arts star Michael 'Venom' Page to the wider world.
Page produced a spectacular, nonchalent tornado-kick on his MMA debut to finish an unsuspecting Ben Dishman during an Ultimate Challenge MMA event in London back in 2012.
The kick marked out Page as one to watch on the UK MMA scene and it didn't take him long to become a bona-fide star as he joined US-based promotion Bellator MMA, where he remains undefeated with a career record of 14-0.