My jaw hurts watching this video. I mean, I’m pretty used to brutal finishes as I can honesty say I have seen hundreds of fights, from all martial arts.

I have a soft spot for Muay Thai though, since it never fails to deliver jaw-dropping violence.
I was not prepared for THIS KO though.

Muay Thai kickboxing is often referred as ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’ as this striking martial art allows the use of punches, kicks, elbows and knees.

It is, as you can guess, very brutal. But it is beautiful too. Such tolerance in rules allows for a wide range of techniques, from the 101 jab to the tornado spinning heel kick.

One of the most beloved technique among both fighters and fans alike is the Superman punch. A Superman punch is delivered by feinting a low kick with the rear leg, then kicking back that leg to drive momentum into the following rear hand punch.

Needless to say, it is devastating, and often puts the opponent out right away. But Muay Thai has a specificity. Unlike western kickboxing, the way Muay Thai bouts are scored puts a heavy bias on the use of elbows.

Elbows are tricky to pull off but it is a great tradeoff if you are skilled as these strikes can serve to cut open and make bleed your opponent or stun him, the very physiognomy of the elbow allowing for great power to be generated on a small surface.

Watch UFC fighter Clint Hester pull off this surreal, never-seen-before Muay Thai KO at the Bangkok Fight Night event back in 2011.

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So what happens when you combine of the most flashy and devastating technique (the Superman punch) with the limb that is able to generate the most power on the most precise surface (the elbow)?

The Superman ELBOW, ladies and gents.

I’ve never seen a Muay Thai KO like this. I can only imagine the amount of pain the receiver of this must have felt… and judging by the way he struggles to regain his senses, it was NOT pretty.