Eddie Hall`s debut in mixed martial arts proved successful, though it wasn`t without its share of awkward moments.
On Saturday, the former World`s Strongest Man secured his first professional MMA victory, knocking out fellow strongman competitor Mariusz Pudzianowski in a swift 30 seconds at KSW 105. While “The Beast” officially claimed the win inside the cage, the experience offered him some lessons. Notably, Hall was visibly not ready to commence the fight when the referee attempted to start the opening round, leading to initial confusion.
“My bad,” Hall said in a post-fight interview shared on his TikTok. “I thought you have your drink, and then the referee says the rules, and then you touch gloves. It’s different here in Poland. My apologies. That’s my inexperience. This is my first MMA fight. So my apologies for that.”
Hall quickly recovered from the early misstep, and once the bout was underway, “The Beast” wasted no time asserting his presence. Despite Pudzianowski holding a significant edge in combat sports experience, Hall attacked aggressively, stunning his opponent with an early combination. Pudzianowski attempted a takedown, but Hall countered by slamming his fellow strongman onto the mat and unleashing a series of punches until the official stoppage.
However, during Hall`s ground offensive, a few strikes unfortunately landed on the back of Pudzianowski`s head, an issue the 48-year-old pointed out following the loss. Hall expressed remorse for this as well.
“I sort of threw that first jab, he bounced back, and I could see the fear in his eyes,” Hall recounted. “So I threw a one-two, it was that quick, he dropped his guard, and I caught him with that second one. That’s when his eyes rolled, and I just kept that pressure on, threw him around, and just kept plowing my fist into his head as hard as I could. …”
Regarding the illegal blows, Hall explained, “Obviously, when he was on the floor, I was just hammerfisting. You just lose — again, my apologies, [it was] my first fight. I think I hit him once or twice in the back of the head. Then I heard the ref shout at me, and it clicked, and then I went back to the face. So again, my apologies. My experience — I wouldn’t like to be hit in the back of the head, so I’m sorry, Mariusz. But these things happen. It was an accident.”
Following Hall`s rapid victory, the conversation immediately turned to what lies ahead for MMA`s newest high-profile figure. Before the fight, KSW CEO Martin Lewandowski had suggested the winner could be an entertaining matchup for PFL heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. While Hall didn`t entirely dismiss this idea, he clarified his own preferences for his next foray into mixed martial arts.
In a separate post-fight media scrum, when prompted about future opponents, Hall initially quipped, “Jon Jones. Just kidding. No Jon Jones.” He then outlined his actual intentions: “I’ve got to step back. I’ve got to evaluate. If the rematch with Mariusz is there, I’d like to do the rematch with Mariusz. Two-minute rounds, like we agreed on the first time. But I’ve got no aspirations to be a ranked fighter. I don’t want to be No. 1 in KSW. So I’m going to take fights that make sense to me. If they can find me another World’s Strongest Man that wants to fight, I think that makes sense. I don’t want to fight KSW No. 1.”
