UFC veteran folded by vicious spinning kick KO at Russian MMA event

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated May 8, 2025 2:32 PM ET

(NWPA)

A middleweight fighter found himself on the wrong end of nasty finishing shot in his second fight since leaving the UFC.

Combat sports fans have spent the week getting prepared for a busy Saturday of action that features KSW 106, the return of Paul Hughes at PFL Europe 1, and a UFC 315 card in Montreal that’s topped by a pair of world title fights.

A few notable events like LFA 208 and ACA 186 are also scheduled to go down on Friday, and earlier in the week UFC veteran Claudio Ribeiro was in action when he took on Sergey Romanov in the main event of North-West Power Alliance: World Peace.

Jeff Swinger-Imagn Images

Romanov Folds Ribeiro With Brutal Body Kick

Taking place at the Yubileiny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, NWPA: World Peace featured a loaded night of fights before Ribeiro and Romanov stepped into the cage to close things out with their middleweight bout.

Ribeiro earned a UFC contract with a 25-second knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022 before exiting the promotion last year following a 1-3 run, but the Brazilian rebounded in a big way in November when he stopped Cássio de Oliveira in just 10 seconds at Jungle Fight 32.

Romanov was returning to MMA for the first time since earning a majority decision over Almanbet Zhanybekov at Open Fighting Championship 22 in 2022, and the Russian fighter showed zero signs of ring rust when he landed a brutal spinning liver kick that immediately folded Ribeiro and left him unable to continue (clip courtesy of the one and only @Grabaka_Hitman).

Sergey "Street Fighter" Romanov closes the show at NWPA with a brutal spinning back kick KO to the liver against UFC vet Claudio Ribeiro.

He hasn't been active in MMA for a couple years, but that's 6 wins in his last 7 fights for Romanov. #NWPA pic.twitter.com/Upin0t7YOy
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 7, 2025

“Street Fighter” has now won three MMA bouts in a row after stopping the UFC veteran, and five out of Romanov’s last six victories dating back to 2021 have impressively come via knockout.

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This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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