IMPA KASANGANAY was on the receiving end of the most viral KO in MMA history – but it was the BEST thing to ever happen to him.
Kasanganay had fought his way into the UFC through Dana White’s contender series when he faced Joaquin Buckley in October 2020.
Joaquin Buckley’s stunning KO of Impa Kasanganay
The KO was viewed over 17m times on Instagram aloneGETTY
And the bout would go down in history after the spinning back kick Buckley landed in round two was one of the most seen of all time.
The stunning knockout became the UFC’s most-watched Instagram video ever with over 17.8 million views.
Kasanganay was cut by the UFC two fights and one year later – falling on hard times afterwards.
He decided to live out of his motor in the car park of his gym in Deerfield Beach, Florida – but it was there where he plotted a sensational comeback.
As last year, Kasanganay would win the Professional Fighters League season to become light-heavyweight champion and a $1million winner.
But more than anything, it meant the American kept a promise he made to his father in the ambulance just moments after the viral KO.
He told SunSport: “I think, ‘Thank God that happened to me.’ Because it really propelled me like a slingshot. I think you have to own those moments.
“I’ve had people come up to me and they say they’d never fight again if that happened to them, how they wouldn’t be able to deal with it.
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“I’ve had fighters tell me, ‘How do you watch that and just look past it?’ But it was how I was raised. I could have left the failure own me but I owned the failure.
“If you own the failure, you own the success. I told my dad in the ambulance, ‘Watch, I’ll win my next fight.’ And I did. I said I’d end up world champion, too.
“I could’ve let no one see me, I could’ve gone back to work as an accountant, I could’ve changed my name. I could’ve done a lot of things maybe other people would do.
“But for what? I have a little brother and a little sister, if they saw me quit then to me it would give them the excuse to.”
Kasanganay opted against moving back to his parents in North Carolina after becoming homeless.
He instead lived out of his car to train day and night at the Kill Cliff FC gym, where he was led to the PFL title and $1m prize last November.
Kasanganay, 30, said: “There’s moments where I remember sitting in the car, journaling.
“Using the hotel wifi across the street, waking up early in the morning to hit the gym, taking a shower before the team got in.
“They’re all moments in my life where I’m like, thank God I stuck with it. And I didn’t move back to North Carolina where my parents are.
Impa Kasanganay won the PFL title and $1m prizeGETTY
GETTYThe American was sleeping out his car at one point[/caption]
“Any time I have a challenge in life now I always recognise that I’ve been through it before and I can overcome anything.
“When I look on it, I’m like, ‘Hey, you was sleeping in your car and now you’re world champion.’ I won the $1million.
“It keeps me grounded and it really makes me appreciate things.”
Kasanganay won his two qualifying PFL bouts last year before triumphing in the semis and final stages.
He now returns on Saturday in the first ever PFL vs Bellator event where champs from the rival promotions fight for bragging rights.
Kasanganay drops down to middleweight to face Johnny Eblen in his bid to become a two-division king.
He said: “I never saw myself as a one-time champion.
“For me, the first title is really the reset, the beginning of the goal to become a multiple-time, multiple-weight world champion.
“I’m grateful they have this champion v champion belt and it’s at 185 so I get to become a two-weight world champion.”
Kasanganay facing off with Bellator star Johnny Eblen