The Kiwi UFC 253 campaign got off to an unfortunate start today with Shane Young falling victim to a brutal knockout in the first round of his bout with Ludovit Klein.
Lasting just over two minutes, Young's fight unravelled in a matter of seconds with Klein landing a nasty kick behind the ear of Young.
The kick momentarily startled Young and the Slovakian national pounced, following up with a flurry of rapid punches, sending the 27-year-old Napier local to the canvas.
Young wore a few more punches on the ground before the referee intervened, stopping the fight.
The 27-year-old is one of four New Zealanders appearing at UFC 253 with the main event seeing undefeated Kiwi Israel Adesanya defend his middleweight title agains undefeated Brazilian Paulo Costa.
Brad Riddell and Kai Kara France are the other New Zealanders scheduled to fight today with all four Kiwis trained out of Auckland's City Kickboxing Gym.
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