The entire world was left wide-eyed back in 2019, when Valentina Shevchenko sent Jessica Eye to the shadow realm with a head kick from the pits of Tartarus. And all that the flyweight champion had to say was, “It’s MMA, and we are training for this. If you are not doing this kind of KO? You will get this kind of KO. And no one wants to get it. That’s why we are training very hard, to be better than our opponents. And, of course, everybody who steps into the Octagon they know what they can get inside there.”

Stone cold! Someone call the ambulance because we have reported a verbal casualty. We are indeed talking about UFC 238, which witnessed Shevchenko’s first flyweight title defense. But more specifically, we are focused on how the fighting community perceived the referee in charge, Rob Madrigal’s reaction. 

But first, let’s marvel at the devastating head kick that happened in just 26 seconds into the second round. Needless to say, ‘Bullet’ was pretty satisfied with her performance. Talking to the media in the post-fight press conference, she claimed that she had prepared very well. And was she happy with her performance? Of course, she was! And she was right to be proud of it. After all, the kick was regarded as one of the most brutal finishes of the year. On top of that, Shevchenko received a well-deserved $50k Performance of the Night bonus. 

Now, as Shevchenko gets ready for her next title defense against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event for UFC 315, visuals of her bout against Jessica Eye have resurfaced once again. SportsCenter took to Instagram and shared the mind-blowing moment from 2019. And as we discussed already, it was the referee who came into the highlight. The caption to the post read, “He couldn’t believe this knockout from Valentina Shevchenko 😳 #UFC315.”

And as soon as the post went live on the social media platform, fight fans took over the comments section to reveal their thoughts. Let’s see what the fighting community had to say, shall we?

Rob Madrigal couldn’t hide his reaction to Valentina Shevchenko’s KO from fans 

The way Mardigal breathed out after pushing Shevchenko away and calling it a match didn’t really escape the eyes of the fighting world. It was clear that not only was the referee impressed, but he was also left in a bit of shock. One of the fans pointed this out and wrote, “Bro was traumatized.” Another fan added, “That look says it all.” One fan weighed in on Madrigal’s sigh and commented, “bro had to take a deep breath that adrenaline hit🤣.” Furthermore, one more fan claimed, “The ref was all of us🤣.”

Meanwhile, fight fans also expressed that they were worried for Eye after she didn’t get up for nearly three minutes after being put to sleep. One fan wrote, “I really thought she killed her watching it live. She was out for like 3 mins.” Another fan commented, “The most worrying thing about it was the long time she was completely out! Remember Valentina and Pavel talking and looking kinda worry.”

Well, this knockout win created a fearsome picture in the fans’ minds. The flyweight queen won the bout and made sure to prove that the women’s 125lbs division had the potential to raise the hype around the events. One fan reflected on the KO and wrote, “Bullet for a reason 🔫.” But now, as Shevchenko gets ready for her bout against Fiorot, we might expect her to execute a similar domination at UFC 315. 

Did you happen to watch the bout between Shevchenko and Eye live? If yes, what did you feel when ‘Bullet’ landed that powerful kick? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.