Bare-Knuckle Boxer Wearing 'Joker' Face Paint KOs Opponent In Third Round

A Ukrainian boxer donned terrifying 'Joker' makeup before knocking out his opponent in a bare-knuckle fight.

Vasily Palyok recovered from a first-round knockdown only to floor Vardan Martoyan in the third round of an event hosted by betting company Parimatch.

Vasily, 33, is a former MMA fighter with 10 wins and eight losses under his belt, according to Tapology.

TKO victory for Vasily "Joker" Palok over Vardan Martoyan after getting dropped in the 1st. Vasily did fought in a joker makeup of course #bareknuckle #popMMA pic.twitter.com/5Wpmo2p5bM

— Matysek (@Matysek88) January 28, 2022

He was left kissing the carpet in the fight's first round after a heavy left hook from Vardan only 30 seconds before the end of the round.

Somehow Vasily forced himself back onto his feet before the 10-count had finished.

He then worked his way forward until Martoyan was against the ropes in the third round and came in with a one-two combo to send his opponent groundwards.

Bare-knuckle fighting ain't a joke - Martoyan spat out his mouthpiece while clutching his left eye, unable to rise back onto his feet.

The fight's referee awarded Vasily the TKO win, who bowed for the crowd and visited Vardan's corner to check on his injury.

Who knew the Joker could be so nice?

Vasily's last MMA fight took place in November 2019 for an ACA promotion fight event.

That one didn't go so well - Vasily was knocked flat by a spinning back fist after only 20 seconds.

Always on the hunt for a crowd-pleasing move (it seems), Vasily the heart-breaker descended to one knee to propose to girlfriend Tatyana in the cage at ACB 61 in 2017.

He didn't even win the fight against Alexei Martynov that night.

Vasily told RT Sport: "I had this planned for the last year and a half.

"We were dating for four years, and the last two years we've been living together. I always wanted to propose exactly this way, exactly in the cage."

ACB president Mairbek Khasiev gave the couple their first engagement present after the fight - a brand spanking new Toyota Corolla.

Russia's boxing federation declared in October last year it would be reviving the art of bare-knuckle fighting with an official department designated to it.

According to BBC News, bare-knuckle fights have already been viewed by millions across the country.

It was neither banned nor permitted in the Soviet era, but people have been trying to bring it back since the 90s.

In fact it's been popular since the late Middle Ages and became a common event at Christmas and Easter with teams selected based on villages or streets.