Bizarre Toe Injury Derails Cedric Doumbe in Anti-Climactic PFL Europe 1 Headliner

A bum big toe knocked a Professional Fighters League hype train right off the rails.

Baissangour Chamsoudinov was awarded a technical knockout over two-time Glory champion Cedric Doumbe in the third round of their PFL Europe 1 headliner on Thursday at Accor Arena in Paris. Referee Marc Goddard called for the stoppage 1:21 into Round 3 after Doumbe (5-1, 1-1 PFL) twice pointed to his ailing left foot.

Chamsoudinov (8-0, 1-0 PFL) controlled much of the first round with repeated takedowns despite his opponent showing surprising resourcefulness on the ground. Doumbe rallied in the second behind a potent jab and improving takedown defense, setting the stage for what many believed would be the decisive final five minutes. Instead, Doumbe called attention to his foot—a small foreign body, perhaps a splinter, was visible—on two occasions, resulting in pauses to the action and the eventual finish.

Meanwhile, two-division Ares Fighting Championship titleholder Abdoul Abdouraguimov rode repeated submission attempts, positional dominance and superiority in scrambles to a split decision over Jack Grant in the three-round welterweight co-main event. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 for Abdouraguimov, 29-28 for Grant.

Neither man seemed willing to retreat. Abdouraguimov (18-1, 2-0 PFL) threatened the Englishman’s next with brabo, guillotine and anaconda chokes, but nothing stuck. Grant held his own in many of the grappling exchanges, where he scored with punches and hammerfist while doing more than enough damage to keep the pro-Abdouraguimov crowd uncomfortable. Alas, it was not enough. Abdouraguimov did his best work in Round 3, as the MMA Factory standout zeroed in on the neck repeatedly, set off scrambles and closed with a punching flurry on his seated adversary in the waning seconds.

Abdouraguimov, 28, has rattled off eight straight victories.

Further down the card, Ignacio Capella punched out Yazid Chouchane in the second round of their lightweight qualifier. Capella (8-1, 1-0 PFL) drew the curtain in spectacular fashion 2:31 into Round 2, extending his run of consecutive victories to eight.

Chouchane (10-5, 1-2 PFL) accrued some damage with leg kicks but could not match the firepower with which he was confronted. Capella sat down the Frenchman with a stiff jab in the first round and let his hands fly freely, showing no regard for the return fire heading back in his direction. He forced Chouchane to the fence midway through the middle stanza, caught him ducking into a takedown and connected with a devastating right uppercut for the knockout.

Capella has finished seven of the eight opponents on his current tear.

Finally, defending PFL Europe lightweight champion Jakub Kaszuba kicked off his campaign for a repeat and kept his perfect professional record intact with a unanimous decision over Kane Mousah in a three-round qualifier at 155 pounds. All three judges scored it the same: 29-28 for the undefeated Kaszuba (12-0, 4-0 PFL).

Mousah (14-6, 0-1 PFL) opened a small diagonal cut above his counterpart’s left eye with a clean one-two in the second round but otherwise struggled to control distance. Kaszuba executed multiple takedowns, forced the Manchester Top Team product to carry his weight in grueling clinches and piled up points with short-range punches and knee strikes.

The 37-year-old Mousah has lost back-to-back bouts for the first time in his 20-fight career.

In other PFL Europe playoff qualifiers, Ibrahim Mane (13-4, 1-0 PFL) eked out a split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—over Chequina Noso Pedro (8-4, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round battle at 170 pounds; Daniele Miceli (12-5, 1-0 PFL) rendered Yassin Najid (9-6, 0-1 PFL) unconscious with a shoulder choke 27 seconds into the first round of their welterweight tilt; Connor Hughes (9-1, 2-1 PFL) brought down Anatolij Baal (10-4-1, 1-1 PFL) with punches 1:31 into their lightweight encounter; Daniele Scatizzi (13-7, 1-0 PFL) took care of Aleksandrs Chizovs (10-2-1, 1-1-1 PFL) with a heel hook 1:59 into the first round of their lightweight clash; and Florim Zendeli (6-1-1, 1-0 PFL) put Tomasz Langowski (6-5-1, 0-1 PFL) to sleep with a rear-naked choke 4:11 into the first round of their welterweight affair. Deeper on the undercard, Islem Masraf (3-0, 1-0 PFL) wiped out Mickael Groguhe (3-2, 0-1 PFL) with a head kick and follow-up punches 10 seconds into the first round of their heavyweight confrontation; Patrick Habirora (3-0, 1-0 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous decision over Claudio Pacella (3-2, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round lightweight scrap, drawing 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judges; and Kevin Del (5-6-1, 1-0 PFL) put away Younes Najid (6-6, 0-1 PFL) with a kneebar 70 seconds into the first round of their middleweight pairing.