Bellator 249 added an unforeseen new wrinkle in the “tap or snap” debate.
Kastriot Xhema got Albert Gonzales in a deep armbar during the closing seconds of the second round in the evening’s first bout in Uncasville, Conn.
As the seconds wound down. Xhema (3-5 MMA, 3-5 BMMA) cranked the armbar tighter. Gonzales (2-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), for his part, never tapped, whether it was a matter of trying to ride out to the end of the round, or whether he literally wasn’t in a position to make the actual tap.
Either way, Gonzales’ right elbow dislocated, the round ended, and with that, the end of the fight, because surely no competitor was going to continue with an obvious arm break.
Then came one final twist: Gonzales never formally called off the fight. And Zhema was exhausted after putting everything he had into his attempt to finish things. And before the doctors were able to go ahead and check on Gonzales to call off the fight, Zhema pronounced himself unable to continue on his stool.
So that ended the fight as a retirement TKO, as Gonzalez came out of the bout with both a dislocated arm and, because he didn’t tap, and kept his yap shut after the horn ended, he came out with his first Bellator victory.
You can see the crazy finish below:
💪 There was no quit in @Big_Gonzales during the #Bellator249 Monster Energy Prelims tonight.
These 🔥 bouts continue LIVE & FREE with our YouTube channel.👇
👀 https://t.co/CofxNVnYth pic.twitter.com/79UFIqJaLY
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 15, 2020
