(Props: MMA Share)

Somehow this escaped our notice, but Bob Sapp got back into action at the end of March in a Croatian event that saw him notch his first MMA victory since his win over that cartoon character at the Dynamite!! New Year’s Eve show in 2008. The big man didn’t exactly win this one with his graceful movements or superior technique. Instead he just charged after poor Sascha Weinpolter like a delivery truck that somebody forgot to apply the parking brake on.

Sapp clearly wants to get the action to the mat, which he does, but it’s not clear if he shoves Weinpolter over or if the smaller man decided to just pull guard for some reason. Ordinarily, pulling guard is something done by people with excellent jiu-jitsu and not much else. Since Weinpolter taps to a forearm on the throat that any blue belt would be ashamed to succumb to, it doesn’t seem like he was ever going to win this with his grappling ability.

The finish may not have thrilled the crowd, but a win’s a win. Sapp hasn’t had many of them in the last few years. Watching him in action now, it really puts all the recent hand-wringing about freak show fights into perspective. If Sapp can hang around in the sport for so long, it’s unlikely that James Toney is going to bring the MMA world crashing down by competing in the UFC.