How did Cedric Doumbe lose at PFL Paris? Bizarre ending explained by John McCarthy
Cedric Doumbe suffered the first loss of his mixed martial arts career on Thursday. The former two-time Glory welterweight kickboxing champion fell to Baysangur Chamsoudinov via third-round TKO after a bizarre toe injury brought the bout to an end. Speaking on the broadcast, former MMA referee turned analyst 'Big' John McCarthy explained the ending, stating:
"What we have right now if you're looking when you see Baki, he does back up, but when you see Cedric Doumbe say, 'I have something wrong with my foot', there's nothing that's been done that's illegal so he's going to have to fight through the injury. It's what we call self-inflicted."
McCarthy continued:
"And then you see them start to go and Baki stops like, 'hey, you don't want to fight?' And Cedric again looks at Marc Goddard and points to his foot, illustrating that he has an injury to his foot. Once that's done, Marc Goddard has got to call the fight. The fight is over. It is a technical knockout victory for Baki based upon what we call a self-inflicted injury."
Check out John McCarthy's comments on the bizarre ending to PFL Paris below:
Following the stoppage, Doumbe claimed that he had glass stuck in his foot. While many have suggested the injury looked more like a splinter, it remains unclear how it happened. Furthermore, it remains to be seen if 'Le Meilleur' will look to get the loss overturned to a no-decision.
What did Cedric Doumbe say about his bizarre loss?
Cedric Doumbe suffered one of the most bizarre losses that fans will see in MMA. Speaking to the French crowd, which largely turned up to support him after the bout, 'Le Meilleur' stated:
"I didn't want to stop the fight. Not at all. I wanted to fight, of course, as everybody saw, but I have like a small - I still have because I don't want to remove it, I don't want people to say I'm a liar - I have a small [piece of] glass in my foot. I don't know inside the cage so it's hurting me. I just want to remove it and keep going so the referee told me, 'you can't stop'. I said, 'ok'."
Doumbe continued:
"I wanted to fight and then my opponent he's looking at me, he's seeing that something is annoying me, he said, 'just remove it' and then we stopped both together, looking at the referee and then he stopped the fight. It's not his fault. Of course, that's not his fault. That is the referee's fault, but it is what it is. I don't even know what to say."
Check out Cedric Doumbe's full comments on his bizarre loss:
Both fighters have already expressed an interest in a rematch after the bizarre ending. Baysangur Chamsoudinov, however, suggested that he would like for a rematch to take place in a bigger venue. It is unclear if the PFL will look to book the two fighters to face one another yet again.