It’s hard to find a more eventful 90 seconds of fighting than what occurred between Tim Johnson and Danilo Marques on Thursday’s PFL card.
And it all started with a low blow that was downright fascinating.
Two minutes into the first round, Johnson landed a hard left hook that left Marques reeling and open to finish. Unfortunately, at the exact same moment Johnson made first contact, Marques landed a right kick to Johnson’s groin.
Both fighters fell simultaneously and Marques got up first. Marques began to celebrate briefly, before realizing that Johnson was about to get all the time he needed to recover.
Johnson eventually recovered and remained in the fight. The next few minutes were very bad for Marques, whom Johnson leveled against the fence with a right hand. He then went to work as his opponent tried to get back to his feet..
The pair eventually reached the ground, where Johnson restrained Marques with the seat belt and ended up with repeated blows to the head.
Like Johnson explained after the fightI had no idea that I could have ended the fight even sooner if it hadn’t been for the groin hit:
“I had no idea I had landed… That hurt. It was definitely the worst groin hit I’ve ever had. I didn’t know it, I just faced everyone who was booing. I was like, ‘Sorry guys.'” “They kicked me in the groin, I’m trying. But then I found out they were booing Danilo, so it doesn’t matter.”
It was all a big PFL debut for Johnson, who said he was hauling cattle in a truck 14 days before the fight. The 39-year-old heavyweight is a veteran of the UFC and Bellator and has a career record of 18-9.
Regardless of how he got there, it was also a good start for Johnson in the PFL standings, as he earned a fight-high six points thanks to his first-round finish.