Cedric Doumbe’s PFL Europe Defeat Marked By Controversial Stoppage
Cedric Doumbe suffered his first MMA loss in controversial circumstances in a PFL bout with Baysangur Chamsoudinov.
The two fighters headlined PFL Europe from the Accor Arena, Paris, on March 7. With the fight in the balance, referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout in the third after Doumbe complained about a foot problem. In the first round, Chamsoudinov took Doumbe to the ground. Doumbe got off the ground but struggled with Chamsoudinov’s fast pace.
The second round was much better for Doumbe, as he landed with his right hand on numerous occasions. The fight was evenly matched, but it all changed in the third. After the start of the third round, Chamsoudinov gestured to Doumbe, urging him to fight. Doumbe looked at the referee, pointing to his foot to show he had a problem, as Goddard stopped the fight.
MARC GODDARD STEPS IN! Baki takes home the W!#PFLParis pic.twitter.com/gGauAVp80n
— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 7, 2024
Doumbe immediately protested but to no avail. The defeat took Doumbe’s record to 5-1, while Chamsoudinov moved to 8-0. Doumbe immediately showed the bottom of his foot to his corner, highlighting a problem. In his post-fight comments, Doumbe revealed something in his foot that he wanted to remove before continuing the fight.
Cedric Doumbe gives his side of the stoppage following his main event bout!#PFLParis pic.twitter.com/5X9HmmnrTx
— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 7, 2024
“I didn’t want to stop the fight, not at all. I wanted to fight, as everybody saw. … But I have a small glass in my foot. I don’t know, inside the cage. It’s hurting me. I just wanted to remove it and keep going. So the referee told me, ‘You can’t stop.’ I said OK. I wanted to fight, and then my opponent is looking at me, he says something is annoying me, just remove it, and then we stop both, together. Looking at the referee, and then he stopped the fight. That’s not his fault, that’s the referee’s fault. It is what it is,” Doumbe said
Big John breaks down the main event stoppage#PFLParis pic.twitter.com/6auyN64yiG
— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 7, 2024
Reaction
Marc Goddard should be banned from MMA
— FightGIF (@TheFightGIF) March 7, 2024
Should be changed to a no contest, something from the cage or mat got stuck in his toe. Really weird and haven't seen anything like it before.
— ScaryCheese (@ScaryCheese_) March 7, 2024
Huge L for the organization
— (fortyseven) (@4477_7744) March 7, 2024