If you’ve watched a decent amount of combat sports, you’ve all seen quick knockouts, but two seconds is crazy.
That’s how long it took Justin Watson to knock out his opponent Cole Farrell at BKFC Atlanta on Friday night. The timing is no exaggeration, and by all accounts, Watson’s finish of Farrell is the fastest KO in combat sports history.
Watson’s KO officially clocked in at 2.9 seconds, shattering records not only in BKFC but across combat sports. BKFC President David Feldman confirmed the timing after reviewing the footage.
Take a look at this viral moment:
In more than 40 years of watching or covering combat sports, I don’t recall seeing a fighter cross their legs while in a seated position after being dropped. Farrell protested the stoppage, but that animation alone was proof the referee made the correct decision.
Watson is a 37-year-old bantamweight. He improved his record in BKFC to 1-2 with the win. In his previous two fights in BKFC, he’d been on the losing end of first-round finishes at the hands of Michael Larrimore in November 2023 and Dameko Labon in August 2023.
Farrell dropped to 1-1 in BKFC with the historic loss. He’d scored a KO win over Cody Schieve in his promotional debut in May 2023. We’ve seen some fast KOs in the UFC. Jorge Masvidal’s five-second demolition of Ben Askren comes to mind. In boxing, Phil Williams knocked out Brandon Burke in ten seconds.
That fight started off bizarre as Burke forgot his boxing trunks and wound up fighting in cartoon-print underwear. I can’t make this stuff up. Watch the video here.
Even those fights lasted far longer than Watson’s wreckage of Farrell.
Prior to his exploits in BKFC, Watson had a brief but unsuccessful career in mixed martial arts. He’s 0-3 and was stopped in all of his MMA fights. It’s tough to say whether Watson simply caught lightning in a bottle on Friday, or if he’s on to something at this late stage in his combat sports career.
If nothing else, he holds a combat sports record that may never be broken. Here is a look at all of the results from BKFC 69.
BKFC 69 Results
- Keith Richardson defeats Michael Larrimore via KO in round 1 (0:21)
- Derrick Findley defeats Joe Elmore via split decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47)
- Nate Maness defeats Nicholas Burgos via TKO in round 3 (1:59)
- Nathan Rivera defeats Justin Street via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
- Joe Ray defeats Dexter Carthon via TKO in round 3 (1:08)
- Joseph Creer defeats David Simpson via unanimous decision (49-45, 50-45, 49-45)
- Crystal Van Wyk defeats Emma Murray via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
- Justin Watson defeats Cole Ferrell via KO in round 1 (0:02) – Fastest KO in BKFC history
- Braxton Smith defeats Alex Davis via KO in round 3 (0:57)
- Ace Samples defeats Micah Livingston via KO in round 1 (1:08)
- Daniel Cooper defeats Louis Brewington via TKO in round 1 (1:58)
