One of the most iconic moments in modern MMA history is Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones choking contender Lyoto Machida unconscious with a guillotine and dropping him like a sack of potatoes at UFC 140 at The Air Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Perhaps upstart welterweight Brandon Shavers had this moment in mind when he was facing his opponent Josh Thompson in an amateur bout at Legacy Fighting Championship in December 2015.

The match begins with both men circling and trying to find their range. Shavers lands a solid left kick to the abdomen of Thompson, but the kick allows Thompson to get ahold of his leg and work for a takedown. While Thompson pushes Shavers against the fence, Shavers is able to simultaneously defend the takedown and lock on a guillotine choke.

As Thompson tries to escape the hold, Shavers slowly secures the choke even tighter. Within moments, Thompson’s freely dangling arms make it clear that his brain has been deprived of blood long enough to have rendered him unconscious.

The referee steps in to stop the fight and, much like Jon Jones did to Lyoto Machida back in 2011, Shavers simply releases the hold on his opponent and lets him fall to the mat. Josh Thompson, a victim of gravity at this point, crashes to the mat, his head bouncing off the canvas a couple times.

It would be Shavers’ final amateur match before winning his professional debut at World Fighting Championships 52. Thompson would go on to bounce back from this defeat and win his next amateur match at Ascend Combat in February 2016.

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Jeff Warsaw is the former executive editor of Long Island MMA Magazine, professional combat sports public address announcer for several NY/NJ MMA and kickboxing promotions, and a proud one-stripe white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the famed Joe D’Arce. He is currently a musician, coffee enthusiast and host of the Stranger In A Strange Land podcast on YouTube

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