MMA Fight Ends With Insane ‘Rolling Thunder’ Knockout

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: An absurdly acrobatic MMA knockout, the Bucks have a wrestling match in the tunnel and more.
MMA Fight Ends With Insane ‘Rolling Thunder’ Knockout
MMA Fight Ends With Insane ‘Rolling Thunder’ Knockout /

He couldn’t have seen it coming

mma-davy-gallon-rolling-thunder-video

An MMA fighter from France won a fight in England over the weekend with a move straight out of a video game. 

Davy Gallon beat former UFC lightweight Ross Pearson at Probellum 1 in London with an acrobatic kick that left the announcers flummoxed. With under a minute to go in the third and final round, Gallon caught Pearson out of nowhere with a leaping back-heel kick. 

The strike landed right on the top of Pearson’s skull and he was knocked out cold. 

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The move was so unorthodox that the announcers didn’t know what to call it. One simply said “Oh s---!”

“Oh... my... goodness. I don’t even know what to call that,” the second commentator said.

“A capoeira rolling heel kick?” the first announcer offered. 

That’s not a bad suggestion, but the move actually goes by a much more poetic name: “Rolling Thunder.”

Japanese fighter Tenshin Nasukawa pulled one off to knock out an opponent in 2018. Another fighter unleashed one in Romania. You can see a whole three-minute supercut of fighters stunning their opponents with the move right here.

What makes Gallon’s move so devastating, though, is that Pearson ducked his head slightly right before impact and allowed Gallon to hit him square in the skull. 

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Published
Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).