Damian Pinas: The 75-Second Knockout Machine Cormier Calls the Hardest Puncher He's Ever Seen

SALT LAKE CITY — Seventy-five seconds. That's how long it took Damian Pinas to turn a dangerous style matchup into a crime scene. One short uppercut up the middle, and Andrey Pulyaev — a man who had gone three hard rounds with one of the division's heaviest hitters and had never been knocked out — was unconscious on the canvas with a broken jaw. Pinas hadn't even warmed up. "That was not my full power again," he said afterward, picking up the microphone like a man apologizing for the brevity. The broadcast booth had seen enough: Daniel Cormier called him the single biggest power puncher he has ever seen.

"I've never seen nothing like him, man"

The words came from Daniel Cormier, a former two-division champion who has called hundreds of fights and taken punches from the heaviest hitters of two generations. Watching Pinas fold Pulyaev with a single uppercut from clinch range, Cormier didn't hedge: "I think he might be the single biggest power puncher I've seen since we started doing this."

Joe Rogan, who has watched thousands of fighters walk to that Octagon, stood right behind him. "There's guys that just have God-given power," Rogan said. "Do you remember Julian Jackson back in the boxing days? He would hit guys and just like, 'What happened?' Damian Pinas has that. It's just extraordinary power." Lead play-by-play man Jon Anik reached back a decade for the comp. "Mark it back to Francis Ngannou against Alistair Overeem in Detroit," Anik said. "Damian Pinas: we'll see who they match him up with at 185 pounds next." When the entire booth reaches for the all-time shelf 75 seconds into a prelim, you pay attention.

The 75 seconds, in detail

It was supposed to be a test. Pulyaev had only been out of the first round twice in his career, and he'd gone the full three with Ateba Gautier — one of the division's heaviest hitters — and heard the final horn. Against Pinas, he lasted 75 seconds. The Surinamese middleweight threw heavy from the first exchange, a right hand and a left backing Pulyaev to the fence. Then the uppercut came, straight up the middle and onto the chin. Pulyaev's senses left him on impact. Referee Herb Dean jumped in at 1:15 of the opening round.

The damage report arrived a day later from Dana White, explaining his $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus picks. "If you look at the finishes," White said. "Damian won by vicious knockout, and he broke his jaw." One punch, one broken jaw, one bonus check — Pinas shared the honors with Johnny Walker, Imanol Rodriguez and Roman Kopylov on a night that set the promotion's knockout record. For Pulyaev (10-6, 1-4 UFC), it's three straight losses and the first time he's ever been knocked out. For Pinas, it was a Tuesday.

Pinas told Joe Rogan in the Octagon that he hadn't even warmed up when the uppercut landed — he was, in his own words, still cold. The UFC's official statistics had him landing more than six significant strikes per minute before Saturday night; after 75 more seconds of work, that rate isn't coming down. This is what the division is dealing with: a fighter whose idea of a slow start is a 75-second knockout.

Paramaribo to the Apex: the road here

Damian Pinas was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, and moved to Aruba at 16. He didn't start training until 19 — boxing first, then mixed martial arts — and now fights out of Oranjestad. The UFC found him the way it finds all its killers: on Dana White's Contender Series, where in September 2025 he knocked out Vitor Costa at 1:46 of the first round to earn a contract.

What followed was a metronome of violence. UFC debut, February 2026: Wes Schultz stopped at 2:30 of round one. UFC 329, July: Cesar Almeida knocked out at 4:44 of the first. UFC 332, Saturday: 75 seconds. That's 11-1 with ten knockouts, six consecutive first-round finishes, and — the stat that should frighten the division — none of his professional fights have ever gone past the second round. The lone blemish on the record is a disqualification for an illegal kick. He is 24 years old.

What comes next: the matchmaking problem

Pinas isn't being coy about the plan. He called for a Top-10 opponent in the aftermath, and he told MMA Junkie he's coming for the middleweight championship as soon as possible. The belt at 185 pounds, for now, sits with Sean Strickland.

This is the matchmaking problem every promotion dreams of and dreads in equal measure: a 24-year-old who ends fights in 75 seconds, tells the microphone it wasn't his full power, and gets the broadcast booth comparing him to Julian Jackson and Francis Ngannou. The step up in competition is the only real question left — and after Saturday night in Salt Lake City, the middleweight division is running out of easy answers. For context on how high the bar for a signature knockout has gotten lately: Sean Sharaf needed just 12 seconds to knock out Gable Steveson at UFC 331. Pinas took a minute longer — and claims there's more in the tank.