Hong Kong’s Sasha Palatnikov reignites UFC dream with 67-second TKO at UAE Warriors
- ‘The White Lotus’ gets first-round TKO in Dubai to boost hopes of becoming Hong Kong’s first representative in the UFC
- ‘MMA originated in Hong Kong,’ says Palatnikov – ‘Bruce Lee started it out there’
As Sasha Palatnikov draped his body in the Hong Kong flag heading to the cage at UAE Warriors 13 in Dubai, the internet trolls were out in force.
“People were commenting on the YouTube stream like, ‘He’s from Hong Kong? He doesn’t look like he’s Chinese’,” Palatnikov (5-2) told SCMP MMA after his first-round TKO victory on Friday night.
The 31-year-old became the first Hong Kong-born MMA champion after winning the welterweight title with Korean promotion Angel’s Fighting Championship last year. But he left the city for Las Vegas in January, looking to sharpen his skills at one of the best gyms in the sport, Syndicate MMA, under the tutelage of John Wood, one of the best coaches in the game.
“People don’t understand my story,” he added. “I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I don’t have any other home. I love to represent Hong Kong – I’ve done it in multiple sports. To be able to raise the flag in a place like Dubai, especially in a time like this … I don’t think there’s any fighters in Hong Kong fighting, I’m the only one carrying that flag right now.”
Palatnikov dreams of becoming the first Hong Kong representative in the UFC, and Friday night’s slick 70-second win over the latest replacement Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Paulo Henrique Teodoro (5-6) – coming just five months after he underwent surgery – will have done his cause no harm.