PFL Europe: Cedric Doumbe loses to Baysangur Chamsoudinov, citing glass in his foot

Doumbe is a two-time kickboxing world champion and made his professional MMA debut in 2021

Cedric Doumbe suffered a bizarre loss to Baysangur Chamsoudinov, blaming glass in his foot, at PFL Europe's opening show of the year in Paris.

Referee Mark Goddard stopped the bout between the two Frenchmen in the third round following multiple complaints from Doumbe about his foot.

After Chamsoudinov was awarded the win, Doumbe revealed a shard of glass had prevented him from fighting.

"I didn't want to stop the fight," said Doumbe, 32.

"But I have a small - and I don't want to remove it in case people say I'm a liar - glass in my foot. It's hurting me.

"I just wanted to remove it and keep going but the referee said 'You have to stop'. The opponent said 'Just remove it, then we fight', but the referee stopped the fight. It's not my fault, it's the referee's fault."

After a close opening two rounds, Doumbe could be seen complaining to Goddard and pointing to his foot in the final five minutes.

Goddard told Doumbe he was not allowed a timeout for an injury, and urged him to keep on fighting.

But he appeared reluctant to continue, and having exchanged words with Chamsoudinov after a lack of engagement, Goddard stepped in to wave off the fight, awarding Chamsoudinov victory by technical knockout, much to Doumbe's confusion.

The defeat was the first of former kickboxing world champion Doumbe's six-fight professional career, while Chamsoudinov, 22, extended his unbeaten start to eight.

"A lot of respect for Cedric, he is a kickboxing legend, but this is not the way I wanted to win," said Chamsoudinov.

"Of course I would like to beat him again but in a bigger stadium and more money. For more money I'll definitely come back."

Doumbe made an impactful start to his PFL career in September, knocking out Jordan Zebo inside nine seconds with a thunderous left hook.

The finale thrilled the sold-out crowd inside the Zenith Paris, with onlookers including Paris St-Germain footballer Kylian Mbappe, causing the PFL to seek out the larger Accor Arena for this event.

Doumbe's popularity has soared in France since the knockout and a raucous crowd greeted him as he walked out to fight Chamsoudinov, but those cheers later turned to boos, with the audience unhappy at the controversial ending.

Briton Hughes wins but defeats for Grant and Mousah

In the co-main event, Britain's Jack Grant suffered a split decision defeat by France's Abdoul Abdouraguimov in an entertaining contest.

In a grappling-heavy contest, Abdouraguimov got the nod from two of the three judges for attempting a number of submissions throughout the fight, despite being defended well by Grant.

In the opening round of the lightweight tournament, Britain's Connor Hughes stopped Anatolij Baal in the first round via an uppercut to reach the play-offs.

He will fight in Glasgow at the Ovo Hydro on 28 September, with the winner advancing to the finals on an unconfirmed date and location to compete for a $100,000 (£78,000) first prize.

But there was defeat for fellow Briton Kane Mousah, who lost via unanimous decision to last year's lightweight tournament winner Jakub Kaszuba.

The next PFL Europe event take place in Newcastle at the Utilita Arena on 8 June.