The inaugural event for Georgian MMA promotion Rkena featured an absolutely incredible knockout from Ukrainian fighter Yaroslav Chokobok.
The UFC was on break during Thanksgiving week before the world’s leading MMA promotion returns next Saturday with a stacked UFC 323 card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but there was still plenty of regional MMA action as well as a Real American Freestyle event that saw Michael Chandler defeat Chad Mendes in the night’s main event.
One event that may have flown under the radar for some fans was Rkena 1, which took place in Tbilisi, Georgia and featured a nine-fight card built around local talent from a country that is quickly turning into a hotbed for top-level MMA.
Yaroslav Chokobok Sleeps Juba Beridze With Vicious Knee
Rkena 1 featured Georgian fighters in all nine of the card’s bouts, and Ukraine’s Chokobok found himself matched up with Juba Beridze for his first flyweight outing since 2021.
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A veteran of 13 professional MMA fights, Chokobok brought a significant edge in experience into his matchup with Beridze. The Georgian won his lone amateur fight before turning pro in 2023, and after a 1-1 start to his career Beridze came into Rkena 1 riding the momentum of three-straight victories.
Beridze proved he could go the three-round distance when he defeated Weiqiang Yang at BRAVE CF 93 in April after his previous four fights all ended inside the distance, but Chokobok never even gave the young flyweight a chance to show off his skills on Saturday. Just 12 seconds into the fight, Chokobok connected with a knee as Beridze ducked in for a takedown and put the Georgian face down on the canvas.
You don’t see many 12-second finishes in MMA, but Chokobok’s win over Beridze wasn’t even his fastest knockout this year. The Ukrainian competed in June at Carpathian Warriors 16 in Poland, where he knocked out Kamil Wisniowski in just 9 seconds.
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Chokobok has now won back-to-back fights for the first time since he started his professional MMA career with five-straight wins. All of his wins have come via finish outside of the split decision he earned in his pro debut in 2018, and his latest victory came during a Rkena 1 event that was watched by UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili.
The Georgian champion reacted to RKENA’s first event 😍 pic.twitter.com/ATIYRqwFqe
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