Masunyane Scores Stunning 37-Second Head Kick KO Of Catalan

Bokang Masunyane Rene Catalan BIG BANG 12

Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane certainly brought the “bang” to ONE: BIG BANG

Masunyane, who proclaimed himself “The New African King” leading to the bout, backed up his talk with a 37-second head kick knockout of #3-ranked strawweight contender Rene “The Challenger” Catalan at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 4 December.

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Catalan started the match aggressively, throwing a stiff leg kick followed by a left hook, while Masunyane responded with a head kick that missed the target. 

“The Challenger” then switched gears and shot for a takedown, which the South African phenom easily stuffed. As Catalan continued to pursue a takedown, “Little Giant” tagged him with a knee to the body, prompting the Filipino to move back. 

But as Catalan tried to move out of harm’s way, Masunyane popped him with a perfectly placed head kick, which saw his shin land flat on the Filipino’s jaw. “The Challenger” crumpled to the canvas, and the referee immediately waved off the match.

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Masunyane’s 37-second win was the second-fastest victory in strawweight history, just behind Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis’ 22-second KO of Rustam Hutajulu back in 2016. 

By beating Catalan, the undefeated South African pushed his record to 8-0 and made his case to enter the strawweight division’s top-five rankings.

In fact, Masunyane is already putting reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in his crosshairs.

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“I’m the best in my division. I’d like to challenge the champion,” Masunyane said. “If the champion is not ready, I can fight the number one or number two [contender]. Give me a title shot.”

Read more: ONE: BIG BANG – Full Results And Highlights For Grigorian Vs. Kondratev

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