Sasha Palatnikov (born March 15, 1989) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

-born American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competed in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

Palatnikov, the son of a Russian father, who was a professional high diver, and a Scottish mother, was born and raised in Hong Kong but spent many summers in Brooklyn as a kid, specifically

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...

. Due to this, he has a conversational level of knowledge in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

. His parents put him in

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

at the age of five. He started playing rugby at the age of six and would train Muay Thai and boxing in the off seasons. He played rugby professionally, but due to an injury, decided to retire and go pursue an education. Sasha was the Hong Kong Heavyweight Amateur Boxing Association Champion in 2012, wanting to represent Hong Kong at Olympic qualifiers but due to politics and the fact that he was not ethnically Chinese, he was prohibited from doing so. Sasha also spent time in the United States and Canada throughout his college career, studying and playing football and rugby at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other pa ...

, and the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, graduating with a communications degree and minored in computer science. During this time he also obtained a US citizenship from his time studying. In 2014, Palatnikov was sentenced to a 2-year prison sentence by the Hong Kong District Court for a robbery in 2013. The incident occurred when Sasha was helping a South African citizen recover a HK$10,000 debt from an Australian man. HK$70,000 in cash was stolen after the pair forced their way into his flat. At the time, Sasha was a computer programmer who was described as "a straight-A student" and excellent rugby player, claimed he had agreed to help his friend in what he thought would be a purely verbal confrontation with the Australian. Dawson, the Australian, was kicked and punched by the South African while being held by Palatnikov, the court heard. After serving 16 months, Palatnikov was released in 2015. Within a month of his release, Palatnikov went to the Philippines to compete in a jiu-jitsu competition, then moved to Florida to train at the

Blackzilians The Blackzilians was a professional team of fighters in mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, amateur wrestling and catch wrestling located in South Florida. The team had included former UFC champions Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Eddie Alvarez ...

team gym in Boca Raton.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After making his debut in 2017, losing to Emmanuel Verdier via TKO in the second round at Fight Time 36, in 2018, he returned to Hong Kong with his girlfriend, initially just for two weeks on holiday to get his permanent ID renewed. A friend put him in touch with local promotion Just MMA, who asked if he wanted to fight on their upcoming card. He won the bout via knockout in the second round and his opponents manager became his manager as well. After a one off unanimous decision win against Jeremy Bastian at Combat FC 1 in China, Sasha joined the Angel Fight Championship, where he won his first bout against Jae Young Ahn at AFC 10 on January 28, 2019, via unanimous decision. He then moved up to Middleweight for his next bout in the promotion, winning the AFC Middleweight Championship against Sun Won Son at AFC 12. In the process, Palatnikov became the first Hong Kong-born MMA champion. Sasha then fought for the UAE Warriors promotion, where he faced fellow future UFC fighter,

Mounir Lazzez Mounir Lazzez (born November 16, 1987) is a Tunisian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional fighter since 2012, he is the first fighter that was born and raised in an A ...

at UAE Warriors 8. He lost the bout via TKO at the end of the first round. Palatnikov faced late replacement Paulo Henrique at UAE Warriors 13 in a catchweight bout, winning the bout in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Palatnikov made his promotion debut against Louis Cosce on November 21, 2020, at

UFC 255 ''UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 21, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United S ...

. He won the bout via TKO in the third round. This fight earned him the'' Fight of the Night'' awards. In his sophomore appearance in the organization, Palatnikov faced

Impa Kasanganay Impa Armond Kasanganay (born January 17, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). He formerly competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of Ultimat ...

on April 10, 2021, at UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland. He lost the fight via second-round submission. Palatnikov faced

Ramiz Brahimaj Ramiz Shaban Brahimaj (born November 17, 1992) is an Albanian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Brahimaj started training seriously for MMA when he was 17 while he ...

on August 21, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum. He lost the fight via technical submission due to a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

in round one. On February 10, 2022, it was announced that Palatnikov was released by UFC.

Post UFC

Palatnikov faced Kyron Bowen on April 2, 2022 at XMMA 4. He won the bout via TKO stoppage due to punches and elbows. Palatnikov faced Joshua Jones on May 20, 2022 at Tuff-N-Uff 128. He won the bout via split decision. Palatnikov faced Tanner Saraceno at XMMA 5 on July 23, 2022. He lost the bout via rear-naked choke in the third round. Palatnikov signed with Karate Combat on December 17th, winning his debut against Canadian Rob Buxton by knockout in the first round.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Fight of the Night (One Time) * Angel's Fighting Championship ** AFC Middleweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palatnikov, Sasha 1989 births Living people Hong Kong male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Hong Kong male boxers Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Hong Kong male karateka Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Hong Kong people of Russian descent Hong Kong people of Scottish descent