PFL Europe main event ends bizarrely after Cedric Doumbe gets splinter in toe

Thursday’s PFL Europe main event between Cedric Doumbe and Baissangour “Baki” Chamsoudinov ended in a bizarre technical knockout that saw Chamsoudinov get his hand raised in front of the Accor Arena crowd in Paris, France.

The pair had gone back and forth for the first two rounds of their welterweight matchup and during the third round Doumbe began complaining about something being wrong with his foot.

Unfortunately, referee Marc Goddard ended up calling a stop to the fight resulting in some confusion from fans and fighter alike.

Doumbe explained after the fight that all of a sudden it felt like there was something in his foot and he later added he had a small piece of glass stuck in his toe.

It is unclear how the foreign object got into the cage.

Mixed martial arts officiating pioneer and former longtime referee John McCarthy was on the broadcast and attempted to explain why the call made by the official was the correct one.

Doumbe, a former kickboxing champion, was 5-0 in mixed martial arts with five stoppage wins prior to this result. The win improved Chamsoudinov’s pro MMA record to 8-0.

Six of the seven fights on the preliminary card ended in the first round, including a 10-second knockout from Islem Masraf over Mickael Groguhe who used an oddly lackadaisical strategy that cost him dearly when Masraf landed a head kick.

Complete results below:

MAIN CARD

-- Baissangour Chamsoudinov def. Cedric Doumbe via technical knockout (splinter in toe)

-- Abdoul Abdouraguimov def. Jack Grant via split decision (30–27, 28–29, 29–28)

-- Ibrahim Mane def. Chequina Noso Pedro via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)

-- Ignacio Capella def. Yazid Chouchane via knockout at 2:31 of Round 2
-- Jakub Kaszuba def. Kane Mousah via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Daniele Miceli def. Yassin Najid via technical submission (Von Flue choke) at 0:29 of Round 1

-- Islem Masraf def. Mickaël Groguhe via knockout at 0:10 of Round 1

-- Patrick Habirora def. Claudio Pacella via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)

-- Connor Hughes def. Anatolij Baal via knockout at 1:31 of Round 1

-- Daniele Scatizzi def. Aleksandr Chizov via submission (heel hook) at 1:59 of Round 1

-- Florim Zendeli def. Tomasz Łangowski via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:11 of Round 1

-- Kevin Del def. Younes Najid by submission (kneebar) at 1:10 of Round 1