When Japan’s Hatsu Hioki signed with the UFC back in 2011, he was widely viewed as a legitimate threat to then dominant UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo. Unfortunately, Hioki’s UFC run ended up being a bit of a disappointment. After defeating George Roop and Bart Palaszewski in his first two fights in the Octagon, he lost decisions to Ricardo Lamas, Clay Guida and Darren Elkins. Though he was able to briefly get back on track with decision defeat of Ivan Menjivar, he then returned to the loss column with a submission loss to Charles Oliveira and a brutal, knockout loss to Dan Hooker. These two stoppage losses resulted in his release from the UFC.
Unfortunately, the hot-and-cold nature of the once highly regarded featherweight’s career has continued outside the UFC. Over the weekend, Hioki stepped into the cage at Pancrase 287, looking to build on the momentum of two-straight wins. Instead, the veteran was brutally one-punch KO’d by his opponent, Hiroshige Tanaka, in just 14 seconds.
Check out the video of Hioki’s brutal and abrupt knockout loss at the top of this article.
Do you think Hatsu Hioki can get back on track, or is time for the 33-year-old Japanese veteran to start thinking about hanging ’em up?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/28/2017.
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