MMA surgeon Dr. David Abbasi shares stunned reaction to former UFC fighter's viral Karate Combat knockdown

A former UFC fighter, who once competed in the promotion's lightweight division, recently made waves in his third Karate Combat fight, scoring a viral knockdown against fellow ex-UFC fighter Khama Worthy. The kick itself drew a reaction from Dr. David Abbasi, who served as the ringside doctor.

The fighter in question was Rafael Alves, who ultimately won the bout via unanimous decision. ESPN MMA shared a clip of the kick, which was a capoeira cartwheel kick, on Instagram, to the astonishment of fans, including Dr. Abbasi, who popped up in the comment section.

Check out Rafael Alves' viral capoeira cartwheel kick:

According to Dr. Abbasi, the cartwheel kick was so thunderous that he heard the sound of the impact from ringside, even with all of the surrounding commotion. Worthy, somehow, avoided suffering a knockout loss despite the power, speed and momentum behind the blow.

"Was Ringside Doc and that Sound was thunderous!"

A screenshot of Dr. David Abbasi's comment

In the UFC, however, Alves struggled. After arriving to the promotion with a five-fight win streak, he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Damir Ismagulov in his debut, before scoring his first win in his sophomore fight by submitting Marc Diakese with a guillotine choke.

Unfortunately for him, it was not a sign of things to come. Alves subsequently suffered back-to-back losses, including a body shot TKO to Drew Dober and a majority decision loss to Nurullo Aliev, who was even deducted a point in round one for biting the Brazilian.

This unremarkable 1-3 run led to his eventual release from the promotion.

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Rafael Alves has found great success since parting ways with the UFC

After his release, Rafael Alves signed with a different MMA promotion, Peak Fighting, a much smaller organization. Nevertheless, the Brazilian was an instant success, capturing the super lightweight championship with a first-round submission win via rear-naked choke over Marcos Vinicius.

However, his true success came following his signing with Karate Combat, where he debuted with a unanimous decision win over Efrain Escudero, before flatlining one of combat sport's chinniest fighters in James Vick.

Check out Rafael Alves' knockout of James Vick:

He knocked him out cold with a switch kick at Karate Combat 51 before going 3-0 with a subsequent win over Khama Worthy.