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Heavyweight MMA fighter provides explanation for viral one-second tap out

MMA fans were left confused following this heavyweight fight in Poland.
Drew Beaupre|
(Babilon MMA)

A heavyweight fighter that tapped out the moment his fight at Babilon MMA 54 started has provided an explanation for his actions.

Before a UFC Perth card that saw Carlos Ulberg knock out Dominick Reyes and RIZIN 51’s double-title fight offering, Marcin Szołtysik made headlines with his professional MMA debut at Babilon MMA 54 when he immediately knelt down and tapped once the bell sounded to start his fight.

The bizarre clip understandably drew a range of reactions and questions from the combat sports world, and the day after the event Szołtysik finally took to Instagram to provide an explanation.

Marcin Szołtysik Explains Viral Tap From Pro MMA Debut

Calling his decision to tap “conscious rebellion”, Szołtysik claims that Babilon MMA brought him in to fight Jacek Kujtkowski with the intention of having him losw (h/t @Matysek88 for the translation).

3-2 as a professional MMA fighter and with an additional two fight of professional kickboxing experience, Kujtkowski made his debut for Babilon MMA last year and won a unanimous decision over Michal Bednarski before being submitted in his most recent outing at Babilon MMA 53.

READ MORE: 49-year-old UFC Hall of Famer gets KO’d in post-fight boxing brawl

The result of Kujtkowski vs. Szołtysik has not been logged on Tapology as of yet but has already been flagged for legitimacy, and the only other fight currently on Szołtysik’s record is a 28-second loss to Jakub Ozga in a bareknuckle MMA fight at Wotore 4 in 2022.

Bizarre Moment Drew Major Attention On Loaded Weekend Of MMA

Poland-based Babilon MMA held its first event back in 2017 and has already held two of its “Boxing Show” cards this year to go along with four MMA events, and Babilon MMA 54 featured as part of a busy slate of MMA action highlighted by UFC Perth.

Neil Magny scored a comeback-win at UFC Perth.
Neil Magny scored a comeback-win at UFC Perth. | (Zuffa LLC)

Featuring plenty of talent from Australia and New Zealand, notable highlights from UFC Perth included Tom Nolan securing a fourth-straight win when he submitted Charlie Campbell and Neil Magny’s incredible third-round comeback against Jake Matthews.

READ MORE: UFC legend Jon Jones announces Gable Steveson's next fight following pro MMA debut

Carlos Ulberg extended his winning streak to nine fights in the UFC Perth main event.
Carlos Ulberg extended his winning streak to nine fights in the UFC Perth main event. | (Zuffa LLC)

Jimmy Crute won back-to-back fights for the first time since 2020 with a first-round submission against Ivan Erslan in the night’s co-main event, and UFC Perth closed out with a brutal knockout of Dominick Reyes that put Carlos Ulberg in line to face the winner of next weekend’s UFC 320 main event between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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