LAS VEGAS – A knockout was his goal, but that doesn’t mean Alonzo Menifield felt comfortable once he pulled it off.
At UFC Fight Night 212, Menifield (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) brutally knocked out Misha Cirkunov (15-9 MMA, 6-7 UFC) with a series of punches. The stoppage came 68 seconds into the bout.
“The feeling was great, but I was concerned about him,” Menifield told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at a post-fight news conference Saturday. “You hear him huffing and puffing, ‘Ahh … ahh.’ I’m looking, like, ‘OK, he’s not getting up.’ I was concerned. He got up, so I was able to enjoy fully that feeling.”
Menifield, 34, said he has nothing but respect for Cirkunov, who fell to 0-4 in his most recent four appearances. Health and wellbeing is paramount, Menifield emphasized.
“Misha, overall, is a great opponent as far as being in the sport,” Menifield said. “Any time you’ve got two warriors in there and one of them don’t get up, you should get concerned. I know I would. At the same time, this is the fight game. When he got up, yeah, I was relieved.”
After the fight, Menifield elected to leave Cirkunov alone and let him regain his bearings. There was no sense in having a conversation that wouldn’t be remembered, Menifield said.
“He’s got to come to it, so as far as saying anything to him, it wouldn’t matter,” Menifield said. “If I can relay this message to him: Great fight. You caught me, man. I really had to dig deep and pull that out.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.