If you didn’t know already, now it’s etched in stone: Darren Elkins is one of the toughest pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts.
The Indiana native took a brutal beating from previously unbeaten Mirsad Bektic in their UFC 209 featherweight fight on Saturday night, but never quit.
In one of the most spectacular comebacks you’ll ever see, Elkins rallied midway through the final round of a bout he was plainly losing and scored a thrilling TKO victory. The time of the stoppage at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was 3:19 of the final round.
“It felt awesome, a very good feeling man,” said Elkins (22-5), who won his fourth straight bout. “I thought I lost the first and second for sure, and I knew I had to finish.”
Things got bad for Elkins fast in the opening round, as Bektic connected on several overhands, scored a takedown, and started landing big elbows from the top. One of them opened an absolutely brutal cut over the left eye of Elkins, which left pools of blood on the mat.
Elkins, though, managed to survive the round, wipe off his blood, and get back to work. In the second, he got Bektic in a guillotine, but wasn’t able to finish the job. Bektic managed to reassert himself and regain control of the fight.
In the final round, Elkins went for a kneebar and got it cinched in fairly tight. Bektic managed to escape, but Elkins went for broke. Several big right hands and a head kick sent Bektic rolling forward to the mat and gave Elkins, a plus-545 underdog, the upset win.
Bektic, an American Top Team fighter, dropped to 11-1.