Benji Radach knocked out by Danny Lafever

[Mal Intentions]

never forget

 

[Straatblaffer]

I thought I was a legit mma fan, but I never heard of these guys.

 

[Rolento]

if you didnt know benji had this video scrubbed from the internet like 10 years ago.

looks like someone found it lmao

 

[BigTruck]

I thought I was a legit mma fan, but I never heard of these guys.

Seriously? Benji was a regional legend but never made it to the big leagues.

 

[Bamboozled]

I thought I was a legit mma fan, but I never heard of these guys.

Benji was some super talent or some bullshit and got starched

 

[NicholasJBasile]

If I recall correctly, I think it was over a chick or something...

 

[BigTruck]

Wasn't this fight over a girl or something?

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Seriously? Benji was a regional legend but never made it to the big leagues.

He made it to the UFC but he didn't make it during his prime at 185; he made it when he was at 170.

 

[sonhow]

I thought I was a legit mma fan, but I never heard of these guys.

UFC, EliteXC and strikeforce veteran Benji Radach 21-7.
https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Benji-Radach-2294

I recall him best for beating up Scott Smith and then getting knocked out in the third (vintage Scott Smith fight).

If I understood right he had some beef with this guy over some girl and they ended up fighting despite Radach being a pro and Lafever having zero fights.

 

[JayPettryMMA]

if you didnt know benji had this video scrubbed from the internet like 10 years ago.

looks like someone found it lmao

I have had a copy of this gem on my harddrive for years. It's one of my holy grails of MMA footage.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

if you didnt know benji had this video scrubbed from the internet like 10 years ago.

looks like someone found it lmao

Yeah it was to like urban myth levels.

Anyone remember the full story?

 

[Rolento]

I have had a copy of this gem on my harddrive for years. It's one of my holy grails of MMA footage.

yep looks exactly how i remember, cool to see it again

 

[sweetviolenturg]

All I recall about this fight is that there was some sort of a personal beef between the two of them & that Lafever was an MMA novice. So, what's the backstory? And did Lafever have any sort of combat sports or martial arts training at all beforehand?

 

[applesbananas]

Could have swore Radach was flirting with his opponent's girl at the event and they agreed to fight each other. The other guy upset Radach and smoked him.

 

[pamirec]

Benji Radach the dude that ko’ed Nick Diaz?

Edit: My bad. It was Jeremy Jackson.

 

[sweetviolenturg]

Found this in the Sherdog archives:

5. Danny Lafever
Ultimate Ring Challenge 6
Oct. 25, 2003 | Longview, Wash.
If you are wondering who Lafever is and why he is on this list next to accomplished and well-known athletes like Ramon Dekker and Karam Ibrahim, you have a pair of salient questions. Even a win over Benji Radach would not seem, on its own, to merit inclusion.

Context is everything here. Lafever was not a former professional kickboxer or wrestler, and he had zero name value coming into the bout; instead, he was a local tough guy who reportedly had some amateur boxing experience but nothing of any real quality on his record. He was effectively pulled out of the crowd to face Radach, with whom he had some sort of dispute over a woman, to fight on a local show in Washington State promoted by UFC veteran Dennis Hallman.

Although it is easy to forget now, Radach was a big-time prospect back in 2003. He owned a record of 15-1, with 12 knockouts, and had Team Quest, then one of the biggest and most accomplished teams in MMA, at his back. He had beaten Gustavo Machado, whose only previous loss was to Ricardo Arona, two months before and needed less than two minutes to do it.

It came as quite the shock, then, when Radach ate a straight right to the jaw that left him stone cold on the canvas 55 seconds into the bout. Lafever celebrated wildly, as befits a man who just scored one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport, and the crowd nearly rioted. Lafever never competed in MMA again, and while Radach had some later success, the shine was officially off the hot prospect.

 

[GueseGuy]

Benji was the man!

 

[kimocomplex]

vaguely familiar with the story

 

[Char]

that videos been processed with at least half a dozen codecs, shit looks worse than cheap home videos from 1985.

 

[Liquidskies]

I remember he KO the brother of Shogun.