Akonne Wanliss delivers devastating 48-second knockout in MMA win

The 32-year-old took his record to 8-2 by beating Sahil Siraj in style at OKTAGON 56, at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena on Saturday night.

As the fight got under way, Siraj attempted to pin Wanliss up against the cage and unleash some heavy shots, but the Jamaican-born fighter was slick and quickly changed angles to get his back off the cage and escape any danger.

He landed a swift straight right hand as Siraj continued to fire, before catching the Swedish fighter with a devastating left hook that instantly dropped him, forcing the referee to dive across the cage and call an end to the fight before Wanliss could deliver any more damaging blows.

The Wolverhampton fighter then celebrated with an x-rated thrust behind his downed opponent, who was attempting to get to his feet on wobbly legs.

Wanliss then dived over the cage to celebrate with his team from renowned gym Renegade, which had UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards in his corner.

Having entered the arena playing up to his nickname of ‘the jedi’, Wanliss took off his Star Wars-style robe to reveal Wolves old gold shorts.

Always the showman, Wanliss played up to the crowd before finishing the fight in style on a successful event for OKTAGON in the West Midlands.

Wanliss now goes into the next round of the lightweight competition and he is due to face Polish fighter Mateusz Legierski next on June 8 at an event in Prague, Czech Republic.

Wanliss said: “I’m here in the OKTAGON Tipsport Gamechanger tournament about to become a millionaire.”