Accor Arena in Paris, France, was absolutely rocking earlier today (March 7, 2024), with PFL Europe 1 delivering one highlight-reel finish after another. Of course, everyone was tuning into see the main attraction featuring Cedric Doumbe vs. Baissangour Chamsoudinov.
It was a fight that more or less delivered up until the third and final round, which resulted in one of the most bizarre finishes in recent mixed martial arts (MMA) history.
Indeed, just one minute into the third and final frame, Chamsoudinov was egging on Doumbe to pick up the pace, and the two were having a conversation in the middle of the cage. Doumbe then signaled to referee, Marc Goddard, pointing to his foot, basically looking to call a timeout mid-fight.
Goddard was having none of it though, advising Doumbe to continue. But, with Doumbe distracted and unwilling to engage a few seconds later, Goddard stepped in and called an end to the fight, much to the chagrin of the French (and proud hometown crowd).
After the madness of the call died down, Doumbe limped back to his corner to assess his big toe, which seemed to be the culprit of his tentativeness. In his post-fight speech, it was then revealed that he a very small piece of glass lodged in his left toe:
Where the glass came from is unclear. Nevertheless, the damage had already been done and a big was decision made, resulting in Doumbe — once a high-profile free agent target of UFC — suffering the first loss of his pro MMA career.
Checkout the action and stoppage below:
The obvious move to make is to book the rematch as soon as possible seeing as how the fight was super close going into the final round, and both men are keen on making it happen.
For now, Chamsoudinov improves to 8-0, while Doumbe drops to 5-1 as a result of the truly bizarre ending to an otherwise entertaining PFL Europe main event.
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This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
