PFL Paris Review: There are No Timeouts in MMA

Cédric Doumbé wanted someone to look at the splinter in his foot. The French fighter appealed to referee Marc Goddard for help at PFL Paris on Thursday night. But while the foreign object in Doumbé’s foot was from the canvas of the cage he was fighting in, the rules didn’t allow for Goddard to bring in medical personnel.

Instead, Goddard waived off the fight, giving Baissangour Chamsoudinov a third-round TKO victory via toe injury. It was difficult for Doumbé to suffer his first career loss in MMA. Doumbé had a lengthy kickboxing career before deciding to transfer to the cage.

Doumbé was a two-time Glory welterweight champion and defended his championship five times. Before the loss to Chamsoudinov, Doumbé was 5-0 with five knockouts. Online boxing news shows that Doumbé will be eager to get back in the cage and may even be interested in a rematch to regain the win.

However, the controversy had to be disappointing for the PFL, which was hoping another win for Doumbé might give them another rising star. Goddard made the right call with the officiating decision to stop the bout. There is no protocol for a fight to be stopped because the fighter claims an injury occurred.

There are plenty of cuts that occur throughout the course of MMA fights. Asking the referee to stop the fight and interrupt the flow of a fight would cause too much confusion. While this is unfortunate for Doumbé, such situations are part of life.

Protect Yourself at All Times

The heavyweight division is the weight class in nearly every combat sport where you least want to let your guard down. Mickael Groguhe didn’t put his guard up during his fight with Islem Masraf. Predictably, that ended in a disaster.

Not only did Groguhe get knocked out in terrible fashion, but his performance was so horrid that accusations of diving quickly followed. Following the opening bell, Groguhe kept his arms down at his hips and slowly walked toward Masraf. Masraf took the opening to launch a head kick that connected flush and dropped Groguhe to the canvas.

All Masraf needed was one stiff follow-up shot to put Groguhe out for good. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Groguhe, who had won all those fights by knockout. It was also unfortunate for Masraf.

While another knockout win for Masraf is good for the French fighter’s record, how it occurred takes some of the shine off his performance. Masraf did improve to 3-0 in his career. All three of his victories have come via finish.

Lazy King Wins Narrow Decision

Abdoul Abdouraguimov is part of a large contingent of French fighters who are happy to have an opportunity to fight in the cage. MMA latest updates show that fighters in France have only been able to legally fight in their home country for less than five years. Abdouraguimov, known by his fighter name, the “Lazy King,” has been a professional fighter for much longer than that.

Fighting in the co-main event in Paris, Abdouraguimov picked up a split decision win over Jack Grant to improve his record to 18-1. The Lazy King has now won eight consecutive fights and is 2-0 in the PFL.

Mane Advance by Split Decision

Ibrahim Mane has learned from his past. When Mane got his opportunity to fight for a major MMA promotion, it ended in a disaster. Mane fought Alen Amedovski at Bellator 211 in December 2018. Amedovski made Mane’s career in Bellator a short one.

Mane suffered a knockout 12 seconds into the fight. It was during a stretch of his career where he lost four of six fights to drop his career record to 7-4. But back on the regional scene again, Mane has regained his winning touch.

Mane has won six straight fights. His most recent win, a split decision win over Chequina Noso Pedro in a PFL Europe Welterweight quarterfinal, moved him to 13-4 on the season.

Capella Impresses in PFL Europe Lightweight quarterfinal

Ignacio Capella has made steady improvements since losing his first professional MMA fight. Capella, who was born in Spain, showed during a PFL Europe Lightweight quarterfinal that he is someone that is going to have to be reckoned with. During the second round, Capella was able to land a heavy punch against Yazid Chouchane to earn a stoppage.

Capella has run off seven straight wins. Chouchane was an interesting matchup for Capella. Originally, Chouchane started his athletic career as a rugby player before eventually converting to combat sports. Chouchane has been fighting professionally since 2012 and has a 10-5 record for his career.

Capella ended up finishing the rugby player by catching him off guard. Already wobbled, Chouchane decided to shoot for a takedown. Unfortunately for Chouchane, Capella was ready for him and hit him with an uppercut that put him to sleep.

Kaszuba Advances Past Mousah

Jakub Kaszuba has carved out a nice career in the PFL:. Kazuba beat  Kane Mousah in a PFL Europe Lightweight quarterfinal Thursday night for his fourth straight win in the promotion. Kaszuba is now 12-0 in his career.

The Polish fighter appears ready to make serious progress toward the championship fight. Here’s a look at the other fights on the card not listed above:

• PFL Europe Welterweight quarterfinal, Daniele Miceli win by technical submission over Yassin Najid, Round 1, :29
• Lightweight, Patrick Habirora defeat Claudio Pacella by decision, 30-27 (x2), 29-28
• PFL Europe Lightweight quarterfinal, Connor Hughes win by knockout over Anatolij Baal, Round 1 1:31
• PFL Europe Lightweight quarterfinal, Daniele Scatizzi win by submission over Aleksandr Chizov, Round 1 1:59
• PFL Europe Welterweight quarterfinal, Florim Zendeli win by technical submission over Tomasz Łangowski, Round 1 4:11
• PFL Europe Middleweight quarterfinal, Kevin Del win by submission over Younes Najid, Round 1 1:10

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.