In just his second professional fight, Rafael Alves delivered a knockout that will be hard to top for the rest of his career.
On Friday’s Shooto Brazil 135 prelims at Upper Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Alves produced one of the best highlights of 2026 so far when he dispatched of Juan Pablo Léon just 90 seconds into their 161-pound catchweight bout.
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After Léon threw a combination of strikes that missed, Alves put his hands down, smiled, walked forward and landed an absolute sniper of a straight right hand that instantly floored his opponent and led to the knockout finish.
Alves walked away nonchalantly, and he upped his young career record to 2-0 while sending Léon to 0-1 in his professional career.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via X):
After making his pro debut in December 2024 with a first-round TKO win, Alves was out of action more than a year before getting back in the cage. He made up for lost time in a big way, and now has some traction as he continues building his early career resume.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Video: Smiling fighter walks down opponent for wild one-shot knockout
