The inaugural event for Georgian MMA promotion Rkena featured an absolutely incredible knockout from Ukrainian fighter Yaroslav Chokobok.<\/p>\n
The UFC was on break during Thanksgiving week before the world\u2019s leading MMA promotion returns next Saturday with a stacked UFC 323 card at T-Mobile Arena<\/a> in Las Vegas, but there was still plenty of regional MMA action <\/a>as well as a Real American Freestyle event that saw Michael Chandler defeat Chad Mendes <\/a>in the night\u2019s main event. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Yaroslav Chokobok Sleeps Juba Beridze With Vicious Knee<\/p>\n Rkena 1 featured Georgian fighters in all nine of the card\u2019s bouts, and Ukraine\u2019s Chokobok found himself matched up with Juba Beridze for his first flyweight outing since 2021. <\/p>\n READ MORE: Daughter of ex-UFC heavyweight champion remains optimistic about making it big in MMA<\/a><\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n You don\u2019t see many 12-second finishes in MMA, but Chokobok\u2019s win over Beridze wasn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n READ MORE: MMA fighter walks off after absolutely jaw-dropping “KO of the Year” contender<\/a> <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Georgian champion reacted to RKENA’s first event \ud83d\ude0d pic.twitter.com\/ATIYRqwFqe<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RKENA (@RKENA_MMA) November 29, 2025<\/a>More MMA Knockout News<\/p>\n \u2022 UFC reportedly trying to grant fighter’s insane turnaround request for UFC 323<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Islam Makhachev’s next title fight could be set after latest UFC rankings update<\/a> <\/p>\n \u2022 Ex-UFC champion admits there\u2019s \u201cwork to do\u201d after losing back-to-back fights<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Decorated ex-MMA champion reportedly set to debut on final UFC card of the year<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with MMAKnockout<\/a> for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n