Marat Grigorian bounced back from the disappointment of coming runner-up in the GLORY 28 PARIS Lightweight Contender Tournament by stopping Djime Coulibaly with a brutal head kick in the first round.
The hard-hitting Armenian brought his usual heavy forward pressure to the fight, putting it on Coulibaly from the opening bell and forcing the French national onto the back foot. Coulibaly, a Muay Thai stylist, likes to counter-attack anyway, but found little opportunity to do so under the Grigorian onslaught.
With just over a minute left in the round Grigorian backed Coulibaly onto the ropes, let a hand combination go and then followed it with a head kick. Coulibably's guard was exposed because of his responses to the punch combination and that left him wide open for the kick, which came up from a sideways angle and landed clean on his jawline.
He was out before he hit the canvas, falling forwards full-length and not even able to put his hands out to break his fall. The referee did not bother making a count and instead waved the fight off instantly, as it was obvious Coulibaly would not be getting up. Coulibaly now falls to 0-2 in GLORY while Grigorian now rises to 3-3-1.
