It was 2009 when a young Chechen named Adlan Amagov landed one of the most vicious kicks in mixed martial arts history.
It happened at a Dec. 19 ProFC event in a small, dim lit arena in Rostov-on-Don, a port city in Southern Russia. Amagov—just 23 years old at the time—walked up to his opponent and sized him up before casually issuing a spinning hook kick that landed with such perfect precision that it sent his victim face-first into the canvas. It was a pivotal moment in Amagov’s career and set the stage for the Chechen fighter’s future exploits.