5 Defining Moments: Impa Kasanganay

Impa Kasanganay now stands two wins away from a $1 million payday.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship castaway will take on Marthin Hamlet when their 2023 Professional Fighters League semifinal bolsters PFL 7 on Friday inside the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio. Kasanganay, 29, enters the cage on the strength of a four-fight winning streak. He operates out of the Kill Cliff Fight Club, where he trains under revered Dutch kickboxing coach Henri Hooft and three-time NCAA wrestling champion Greg Jones.

As the resurgent Kasanganay makes final preparations for his upcoming clash with Hamlet at 205 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Ticket, Please

Kasanganay improved to a perfect 7-0 as a pro with a unanimous decision over Anthony Adams during Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Aug. 11, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 29-27. Adams held serve in the first round, where he utilized the clinch, leg kicks and even a front kick to the face. Kasanganay turned the tables in the middle stanza, as he pieced together combinations, executed a takedown and moved toward the back with ground-and-pound. He picked up where he left off in Round 3. There, Kasanganay delivered another takedown, shifted to the kneeling Elevation Fight Team product’s back and slammed a series of knees into his ribs. It gave the intriguing middleweight two DWCS wins on his resume and allowed him to punch his ticket to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

2. At First Glance

The still-green Kasanganay impressed in his Octagon debut, as he captured a unanimous decision over fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Maki Pitolo in the featured UFC Fight Night 175 prelim on Aug. 29, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27. It boiled down to horsepower, and Kasanganay had more of it. He moved Pitolo backward and sent spit flying with chopping right hands, mixed in a few leg kicks and ripped the body and head with left hooks. Kasanganay took a round to get up to full throttle, but once he was there, the outcome became more and more of an inevitability. Bleeding from a cut near his left eye, Pitolo did his best to return fire but could not make any real headway.

3. Spin Class

Joaquin Buckley ensured his permanent residence on future Ultimate Fighting Championship highlight reels when he knocked out Kasanganay with a spinning back kick to the face in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 179 middleweight prelim on Oct. 10, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It ended 2:03 into Round 2. The two men engaged in a firefight, until Buckley authored an all-time finish. Kasanganay—a short-notice fill-in for Abu Azaitar—blocked a head kick and caught the Bellator MMA veteran’s foot. However, he held on and lingered for too long. Buckley immediately transitioned to a spinning back kick, his heel connecting to the face with concussive force. Kasanganay froze and collapsed backward. No follow-up shots were necessary.

4. Unceremonious Exit

Former Brave Combat Federation titleholder Carlston Harris put away Kasanganay with first-round punches as part of the UFC Fight Night 192 undercard on Sept. 18, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Tshilobo” succumbed to blows 2:38 into Round 1. Harris chipped away with chopping right hands, basic combinations and body kicks, then flipped the switch. He dazed Kasanganay with a right hook, floored him with a left and pounced with punches and hammerfists. Referee Mark Smith was on the scene soon after and waved it off once it became clear Kasanganay had passed the point of no return. He parted ways with the UFC the following December.

5. A Shot at the Jackpot

Kasanganay clinched his spot in the Professional Fighters League playoffs and did so in decisive fashion when he submitted Tim Caron with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their PFL 4 pairing on June 8, 2023 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Caron bowed out 3:52 into Round 2. Kasanganay set the tone with immediate aggression, as he pushed the former CES MMA champion backward with power punches and eventually worked his way to a takedown. From there, he assaulted Caron with ground-and-pound, applied asphyxiating pressure and even threatened with an arm-triangle choke. Nothing changed in Round 2. Kasanganay charged in for another takedowns, hammered away with punches and moved to side control. He continued to distract Caron with punches, slid into position and locked down the choke, prompting the tapout after a brief but uneventful struggle. The victory qualified Kasanganay for the 2023 PFL light heavyweight playoffs.