Duane Ludwig

Duane Paul Ludwig (born August 4, 1978) is an American mixed martial arts coach, retired professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist.

Ludwig formerly held the unofficial fastest knockout record in the UFC after his win against Jonathan Goulet (in 0:06) at UFC Fight Night 3.

He turned professional in 2000 when he defeated Terrance Jones at a Ring of Fire event, in what was a rematch from their amateur days.

At the end of the year Duane won his first pro title by winning the W.K.A. US national title, which he followed with the I.M.T.C. title the next year.

He had his first real challenge in 2001 when he faced world champion Alex Gong for his I.S.K.A. belt at a K-1 event in Las Vegas.

The title went the distance with the young Ludwig suffering his first professional defeat.

There was some controversy about the decision as some thought that despite a shaky start Ludwig had shaded it.

The title fight was also notable as the belt had previously been held by Alex Gong - a rematch between him and Ludwig had been on the card since their bout in 2001 but Gong died in 2003.

In 2002 Duane dropped down in weight to 70 kg to take part in a qualifying tournament for the first ever K-1 MAX world final.

He won the four man tournament, defeating no. 1 ranked I.K.F. fighter Ole Laursen in the final to book his place to Tokyo.

At the finals Ludwig was drawn against home favourite Masato, and despite his best efforts was unable to make the semi-finals, being outclassed by the local fighter over three rounds to lose by unanimous decision.

He would get another shot at K-1 MAX glory the following year in Saitama, Japan and went one better, reaching the semi-finals where he lost to 2002 K-1 MAX champion Albert Kraus.

Ludwig was regarded as a top lightweight in the world during 2003 and 2004, for his victories over Jens Pulver at UCC 12 and Genki Sudo at UFC 42, up until a loss to B.J. Penn at K-1 MMA: Romanex.

Ludwig has also received acclaim for his role in the success of Team Alpha Male operating out of Sacramento, California, which is home to numerous highly ranked mixed martial artists who have competed in organizations such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting.

Duane started practicing Muay Thai when he was 15 years old.

He would have a successful amateur career winning twelve of his fourteen bouts and picking up three IKF International Kickboxing Federation Muay Thai national and regional titles.

In 2004 he won his last Muay Thai title where he finally got his hands on a world title, defeating Thai superstar Malaipet by decision after five rounds to win the I.S.K.A. world title, something Ludwig considers one of his proudest ever moments.

After this victory Duane would become increasingly involved in MMA at the expense of his Kickboxing career, although he would have a number of K-1 fights up until 2006, finishing with a 4-7-1 record with the organization.

Ludwig was trained by Bas Rutten during his early career.

Although not an official title match, Ludwig nonetheless beat Jens Pulver, who was at the time ranked as the #1 Lightweight mixed martial artist in the world by many outlets, by first round K.O.

At UFC 42, Duane Ludwig fought Genki Sudo.

Sudo showed his theatrical side, walking backwards towards Ludwig and doing the robot dance before taking him down.

Despite the initial domination by Sudo, Ludwig started inflicting damage while standing, avoiding a rolling kneebar and several takedown attempts.

Whilst it seemed the momentum had shifted in Ludwig's favor, Sudo came back in the third round and took him down, pounding and bloodying him with punches and elbows.

Whilst Ludwig was mounted, referee John McCarthy interrupted and stood the two fighters up.

The "doctor's check" allowed Ludwig time to recuperate, while being administered first aid to stop the bleeding in his nose.

When the doctor allowed the fight to resume they did not restart from the same previous dominant position held by Sudo.

Ludwig took advantage of the indirect rest given to him and avoided the ground and dominated the standup with several hurtful shots on Sudo to win a split decision.

Ludwig mocked Sudo after the final bell with a crane kick pose.

This eventually led to a rule change that during a doctor's check, fighters will resume the action from the same position where it was halted.

At UFC Fight Night 3, Ludwig faced Jonathan Goulet.

Ludwig won the fight via quick knockout, though many fans disagreed with the timekeeping of the finish, which was 11 seconds despite the referee pulling Ludwig away from Goulet at around the 6 second mark.

Ludwig was scheduled to face Spencer Fisher on March 21, 2010, at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones, but Fisher was forced off the card with an injury.

Following multiple online campaigns to overturn the timekeeping error, on Christmas Eve 2011, UFC President Dana White informed Ludwig that he was being given the official fastest knockout time.

Two days later, Keith Kizer and the Nevada State Athletic Commission denied that Ludwig would be given the record, with Kizer stating: "There's no legal avenue to overturn it" before going on to say "I timed it myself with a stopwatch. It was eight seconds. Officially, it's got to stay at 11 seconds, but unofficially, it could be at eight."

Two days later, Dana White, along with his production crew posted a video to YouTube showing the times of UFC fights that hold the "Fastest Knockout" tag.

Ludwig's knockout was timed at 6.06 seconds, compared to Chan Sung Jung's knockout at 6.26 seconds and Todd Duffee's knockout at 7.56 seconds.

In 2019, Jorge Masvidal beat Ludwig's time with a knockout in five seconds.

On December 17, it was announced that Ludwig was set to return to the UFC at UFC 108, facing Jim Miller, replacing an injured Sean Sherk.

He lost to Miller via armbar in the first round.