Steve Aimable took just 14 seconds to win his latest fight – and now he’s taking aim at the Cage Warriors title.

Aimable, 31, bludgeoned Liam Bennett to defeat at Cage Warriors 97 in Cardiff on Saturday, having taken the lightweight fight – a weight class higher than his usual fighting weight – on just a few days’ notice.

But the gamble certainly paid off for Aimable, who fights out of Colchester’s powerhouse BKK Fighters Gym, with the devastating performance, streamed live on Facebook, creating a real buzz around the man nicknamed ‘Diddy Kong’.

“I knew going in I’d be able to catch him,” he said. “But I didn’t think it would be that quick – I’ll take it though!

“Going in, I didn’t feel like he would be the challenge – I thought it would be more about me not being as fit as I could be because of the late notice and perhaps getting in a situation where I’d get tired.

“But we knew that he goes in and swings hooks, and he did straight off the bat. We separated and I could see he was winding up to go again so I just thought ‘I’ll get you first’ and caught him.

“Taking the fight at late notice was a gamble, but it paid off – someone tagged me in a post on social media saying it was the fastest KO anywhere around the world at the weekend.

“I’m over the moon about it, it’s a massive confidence boost for me – I know I’ve got that power in my hands now, dropping someone who could fight two weight classes above me is a great feeling.”

Aimable (11-5) will now switch his attentions to the Cage Warriors 99 show in Colchester on November 17, where, back down at featherweight, he’s planning to make another statement – both in the cage and on the microphone post fight.

“I’ll hopefully get another finish,” said Aimable. “Then I need to stop being so nice in interviews, get on the mic and start calling people out.

“I can’t do that until I’ve got a couple of wins under my belt, so after Colchester we will see. The featherweight tournament (to determine the new Cage Warriors champion) starts this month, so I’ll be looking to fight the losers of that.

“I want to be fighting as much as I can and start making a run at the title.”

Aimable also thanked all his coaches and training partners at BKK, and new sponsor Reach Your Peak (@rypsocial).