But Kauppinen had other ideas in mind, blasting Sakara with a left hook to win by KO at 1:10 of the first round at RDS Stadium in Genoa, Italy.
Kauppinen came out striking, including hard right hand that hurt Sakara. The 37-year-old was stalking Kauppinen to the point where the former pro boxer had his back to the cage. Sakara connected on a right to the body and Kauppinen went over the top to drop Sakara with a vicious right hand. Kauppinen hesitated as he thought referee Dan Miragliotta would have stopped the fight. Kauppinen blasted Sakara with two ground-and-pound punches and Miragliotta stepped in and stopped the fight to silence the Italian crowd.
The victory snaps a two-fight losing streak for Kauppinen (11-4), who propelled himself as a serious contender in the light heavyweight division.
Co-Main Event
Domingos Barros def. Hesdy Gerges via TKO (punches) at 2:53 of the first round.
A very good showing from Barros. He didn’t let Gerges get into a rhythm by immediately taking down the kickboxing veteran. Barros kept transitioning positions until he went from half guard to a mounted crucifix and then to full mount. From there, Barros unloaded a series of heavy strikes to force referee Todd Anderson to call the fight.
Main card results
Pedro Carvalho def. Luca Vitali by submission (guillotine choke) at 0:43 of the first round.
Alen Amedovski def. Ibrahim Mane via KO (punches) at 0:12 of the first round.
Kiefer Crosbie def. Orlando D’Ambrosio by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
