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Cedric Doumbe remains puzzled by the outcome of his recent fight against Baissangour Chamsoudinov, also known as “Baki,” at PFL Europe 1. During the main event, referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight in the third round due to a splinter in Doumbe's foot, declaring a TKO victory for Baki.
Doumbe expressed his confusion, stating,
"I tried to remove [the splinter] by myself... The referee said, ‘Don’t stop, don’t stop. Keep going. Fight.’ Then I was looking in Baki’s eyes and I was like, OK, I can remove it by myself, but I don’t want him to kick me in the head."
Despite Doumbe's attempts to continue, Goddard halted the fight, leading to Doumbe's dismay. He felt the referee's decision robbed him of the opportunity to continue a fight for which he and his team had prepared extensively.
"It was sold out, everybody was proud, everybody was waiting for that fight, and Marc Goddard just stole the fight. I really don’t understand,” Doumbe said.
The exact reason for Goddard's stoppage has not been clarified, leaving Doumbe questioning the handling of the situation.