Home town hero Mike Kimbel got the job done in just six seconds on Friday night at Bellator 207, but for him, it’s just another head collected.
Uncasville, CT — There are few things in MMA as exciting as a big knockout. Yet when they come as quickly as Mike Kimbel’s on Friday night at Bellator 207 in Uncasville, Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena, well that seems to take them up a notch. Six seconds. That was all it took for Kimbel to finish opponent Alex Potts. Six seconds for Kimbel to turn out the lights and notch the biggest win of his career. Just like that, the home town kid made good. Kimbel, a native of nearby Waterbury, just an hour or so down the road, had the crowd on its feet.
On the finish, and whether it was a good call, Kimbel later told reporters back stage that “I know how the game is, I know there’s always a little bit of controversy especially from people that see their teammates and stuff take shots like that.” He feels the ref made the right call, protecting Potts from further harm. “I would have followed up, I was going to follow up with the left elbow, he would have took unnecessary damage. So I think it was a great stoppage by the ref, I wasn’t going to stop.”
Yet if you think a six-second elbow was entirely satisfying, think again. Kimbel, who later said he was tested during this particular fight camp, wanted to get a little more cage time in. “It’s cool to get a six second knockout, but I was trying to fight,” he said. It wasn’t really the release he was looking for, Kimbel agreed when it was put to him that way. Still, it was “another great night, another head collected, on to the next.”
“Hat’s off the Alex Potts, a lot of people don’t know he’s actually a wrestling state champion,” Kimbel later added. “He’s been wrestling since he was 13, 14. Good striker, good gym where he comes from. This was supposed to be a tough test. This was supposed to be a good fight. On paper, I was supposed to take some licks.”
In the cage, however, it was a different story. Potts didn’t have time to get any licks in. And it will no doubt be no time at all before Kimbel is back in action. The fighter later boasted that “I’m going to be the biggest thing to come out of my city. I feel I’m going to be the biggest thing in this sport. In due time. One by one.” Now 2-0 as a pro, he’s off to a strong start, another rookie sensation in a promotion now brimming with them.
