It worked for Mike Kimbel once, so he had to think it would work a second time at Bellator 215.
But this time, a year to the weekend from when it paid off in his pro MMA debut, Kimbel (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) couldn’t shake loose a triangle choke against John Douma (4-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Despite slamming Douma on his head and neck, Douma kept the choke on and Kimbel had to tap.
Check out the video of the finish below.
The upset loss was the first setback of Kimbel’s pro career. Against Geoffrey Then a year ago at Bellator 194, Kimbel was in a similar situation – but slammed Then on his head, broke the choke, then finished him with ground-and-pound for a win in his pro debut.
Kimbel was more than a 4-1 favorite in the fight and was fighting in front of his home fans in Connecticut.
The bantamweight bout was part of the main card of Friday’s Bellator 215 event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMAjunkie.
For complete coverage of Bellator 215, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
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