ONE Championship: Giorgio Petrosyan was ‘out cold on the stretcher’ after Superbon KO at First Strike

ONE commentator Michael Schiavello sheds light on the dramatic knockout that shook combat sports world

‘You only have one millisecond to etch that into history,’ says Schiavello, whose call became an instant classic

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Superbon throws a roundhouse kick to Giorgio Petrosyan’s head at ONE: First Strike. Photos: ONE Championship

Published: 2:54pm, 17 Oct 2021Updated: 2:53pm, 17 Oct 2021

ONE Championship commentator Michael Schiavello has seen his fair share of vicious knockouts – and has etched them into the annals of combat sports history with his iconic calls in the commentary booth.

But the Australian, who has been covering the world’s biggest kickboxing cards for nearly three decades, admitted Superbon Banchamek’s stunning second-round head kick KO of Giorgio Petrosyan in Friday night’s ONE: First Strike main event is up there as the one of biggest shocks in the sport’s history.

“It’s no shock for a lot of people that Superbon beat Petrosyan, a lot of people were tipping him,” Schiavello told the Post. “It’s the fact he knocked out cold, clean, flatlined the greatest kickboxer of all time. Superbon expected it, but nobody else.

“The technique was beautiful, but the noise the shin made connecting to the neck and jaw of Petrosyan was sickening. When the legs crossed over, you knew he was gone before he hit the canvas. It was scary. The way the head hit the canvas was sickening, and he was laid out for a long time.”

The Armenian-born Italian Petrosyan, who won Asian martial arts promotion ONE’s US$1 million featherweight grand prix in 2019, had not lost in eight years, and had only been stopped once before in over 100 kickboxing matches. Known as “The Doctor” for his supreme technical and defensive prowess, he even walked to the cage wearing a bulletproof vest.