Kazama found himself on the wrong end of one of the highlight-reel knockouts of 2025 so far when he refused to let go of a triangle choke and was viciously slammed to the canvas by Elijah Smith.
Kazama’s head hit the canvas first and the 28-year-old was knocked out instantly. Smith cut short his celebrations after seeing that the Japanese athlete hadn’t regained consciousness after the incident, while the live broadcast cut to a commercial break while medics attended to Kazama.
To everyone’s relief, Kazama eventually regained consciousness and left the arena, where he was taken to a local Las Vegas hospital for evaluation and assessment.
Later in the evening, the commentary team announced that, according to the UFC’s resident physician, Dr. Jeff Davidson, Kazama had CT scans on his head, face and neck, with those scans coming back negative.
It meant that Kazama was expected to be able to leave the hospital and head home without the need for further treatment.
As for the man who delivered that knockout, Elijah Smith, he earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts.
