Beaten MMA fighter Ibrahima Mane has said he is "disgusted" after losing to Uzbek warrior Nursultan Ruziboev in a fight finish labeled "crazy" by fans, locking his opponent in a triangle choke before being lifted and knocked out.
Late replacement Mane looked to have caused 29-win Ruziboev huge problems at Brave Combat Federation 47, threatening to choke out his opponent in the first round after both fighters had made submission attempts in a quickfire epic.
Just when he could have been forgiven for capitulating, toughman Ruziboev swept Mane off the floor and slammed him backwards onto the canvas, causing the referee to rush in and wave the fight off with the floored victim apparently unconscious.
"Holy f***ing s***," said one stunned viewer, watching the action with a little over three minutes of the first round gone at the "Asian Domination" event in Bahrain.
"Slam KO from Ruziboev. Crazy scrambles and then that huge slam when Mane had a triangle locked in. That was mad."
Super-welterweight Ruziboev showed why he has ended almost all of his wins by submission, while Mane, who has now won eight of his 12 fights, was understandably frustrated afterwards.
"I dominated the fight standing up," said the man who stepped in at five days' notice after Ruziboev's original opponent was injured, describing himself as being "very confident" and applying "big pressure in the center of the cage" during the brief-yet-memorable scrap.
"Then the opponent, on lowkick, managed to bring me to the ground. Even there, I was in a comfortable, good position.
"I started on a submission and on a triangle the guy gets up and he slams me. Suddenly I fall on my head and I lose by KO like that.
"I am disgusted and very frustrated because I was really good and I had this fight – but there it is."
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