Cedric Doumbe suffered his first loss but not the way you think (VIDEO)
By Amy Kaplan
Cedric Doumbe is one of France's highest-touted prospects and it's easy to see why. He's an incredibly talented fighter and he sells out packed arenas for PFL.
But on Thursday, March 7, the worst happened. He lost and in the absolute worst way possible.
Doumbe was headlining the first PFL Europe card in Paris, France when a foreign object got lodged into his foot. He tried to stop the fight to take it out of his foot but the referee called off the fight instead.
Something like this is unprecedented as it's not something which happens every day in the sport. Fighters are not able to call time outs, but in this case he probably should have been given a moment to get the object out, which is what would happen if somee gets an accidental groin strike or an eye poke.
Baki Chamsoudinov earned the win via TKO.
Watch the confusing end to the Cedric Doumbe PFL Paris fight
Marc Goddard: "You know you can't do that. You can't call a timeout."
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 7, 2024
Cédric Doumbé: "The second time I didn't say I don't want to fight."
The #PFLParis main event ends in bizarre fashion after Doumbé suffers a toe injury. pic.twitter.com/U6wKhHO6CC
"I’m disgusted. I didn’t want this. Make some noise for Baki. This isn’t his fault. It’s the ref’s fault," he said on the microphone in French after the fight. "I feel like there is a piece of glass or wood in my foot. I told the ref. I told Baki. Baki said so get it out. And then the ref stopped it. I never asked to stop the fight."
Cedric Doumbe is easily PFL's biggest home grown star in the making. Already a superstar in France. I don't know what his ultimate ceiling is in this sport but they will no longer be able to promote him as an undefeated fighter from here on out.pic.twitter.com/ReXBZX8chu
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 7, 2024
Several people, including MMA media and fellow fighters reacted to the moment.
Doumbé loses due to toe injury . Not like this … DAMN #PFLEurope
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) March 7, 2024
That was so dumb. Letter of the law or not, at some point common sense must prevail. The man has a foreign object lodged in his toe. Give him two seconds to swipe it out then allow this to continue. #PFLParis
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 7, 2024
I feel like a "can you continue or not" would have been warranted
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) March 7, 2024
Not normally a fan of appeals, but if Doumbe had a foreign object lodged in his foot, I have to think that’s at least a legitimate reason for an official review and perhaps a no contest. #PFLParis
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) March 7, 2024
I hope the commission change this TKO into the NC as soon as possible because it is not Doumbe's fault that he got A GLASS on his toe. Would be fair in all way.#PFLParis
— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 (@iHeartGeorgius1) March 7, 2024
Doumbe got TKO’d by a splinter
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) March 7, 2024
This sport is so fucking dumb. Why do we love it so much?
Might be the dumbest thing I've seen in 20 years of following combat sports.
— Lucas Bourdon (@lucas_bourdon) March 7, 2024
After the fight was called off, Baki says he will agree to fight Doumbe again.
"Doumbé is a legend of kickboxing. It was an honor to fight. This is not how I want to win," he said.
Doumbe was on a five-fight win streak and was looking as the heavy favorite to be one of the next PFL champions for Europe. His last fight, in Paris as well, ended in a nine-second knockout. This one ended much differently.
It's unclear if and when PFL will rebook the fight, but that's absolutely what need to happen.
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