MMA Fighter Taps Out Immediately After Opening Bell in Bizarre One-Second Fight
The moment happened on Saturday and certainly raised eyebrows.
Ben McAleer
A video has emerged of an MMA fighter tapping out after the opening bell in a bizarre one-second bout.
The moment occurred at Babilon MMA 54 in Poland on Saturday night as Marcin Szołtysik geared up for his professional MMA debut against five-fight veteran Jacek Kujtowski.
As the opening bell rang to kick off the fight, however, Szołtysik immediately dropped to one knee and tapped out, signalling the victory for opponent Kujtowski.
Kujtowski initially walked away in confusion, but then approached Szołtysik with his fists raised as the latter continued to tap on the mat with the referee forced to step between the pair to ensure no punches were thrown.
Fans in attendance were initially sceptical about the result before booing the decision as both fighters approached one another in the middle of the ring before Szołtysik and Kujtowski’s shared a brief conversation in the ring.
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At the time of writing, no explanation for Szołtysik’s incredible tap out has been given and he refused to elaborate on his strange behaviour before heading backstage.
Promotion company Babilon also issued a statement on their official Facebook page to address the odd submission, stating: “A bizarre situation occurred in the fight between Kujtkowski and Szołtysik.
“Fans expected a fierce brawl, but only one fighter was ready for it. Marcin Szołtysik frightened on social media with workouts like Tong Po from the iconic ‘Kickboxer’, but in the cage, he showed nothing at all and gave up on the very fight, without even taking up a fight.
“Jacek Kujtkowski (4-2) officially wins by submission in the first second of the first round, but only time will tell how this result will be recorded.”
A clip of the submission on X from user @Matysek88 has since gone viral, amassing in excess of 650,000 views.
Fans, meanwhile, couldn’t believe that they had witness in Poland, with one user posting: “Absurd scenes at Babilon in Poland.”
“This is a disrespect,” a second added.
A third stated: “Other dude went through a camp and weight cut for THAT and while it’s a W on the record, it surely won’t help advance his career. I’d be f—ing P—ED.”
While a fourth fan theorised: “He s*** himself.”
The same user who posted the video also highlighted that this isn’t the first time that a bout involving Szołtysik ended strangely.
In his only other recorded fight, Szołtysik was brutally dismantled by Jakub Ozga in just 28 seconds of a bareknuckle MMA bout at Wotore 4 in May 2022.