Mike Kimbel takes on 3-3 fighter Chris Disonell on the Bellator 225 preliminary card. Kimbel received a lot of hype immediately when he knocked out his first two opponents in 69 seconds combined. Since then, though, he’s suffered a submission loss and won by split decision. Disonell last fought in June, suffering a loss. This will be his promotional debut.

Kimbel started with a leg kick early on and had complete control of the center of the cage. Disonell rushed in with a nice combination and Kimbel countered with one of his own. Kimbel went to the leg kick again, and shortly after, was caught with a counter-left when he threw a jab. Disonell got a hold of Kimbel and pushed him against the cage. A takedown effort against the fence was stopped by Kimbel, then they broke apart. Kimbel took advantage of the opportunity, hitting Disonell with a heavy combination that rocked him. Kimbel was coming in with knees and punches and Disonell found a brief window to grab a hold of Kimbel. Kimbel broke free again and landed a big knee while falling to his back, Kimbel bounced into a takedown and got it, but got up shortly after. Disonell clinched up again and Kimbel’s defensive effort led to him folding backward and Disonell landing in full mount. Disonell pounded away with punches from full mount with 15 seconds remaining in the round and landed enough to force a stoppage.

🔥👊@KimbelMike and @CDisonell are going back & forth in round one!#Bellator225 pic.twitter.com/Jd3JRqbnXb

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) August 24, 2019

Chris Disonell def. Mike Kimbel by TKO (Ground-and-Pound) in Round 1 (4:54)

The post Bellator 225 Results: Chris Disonell Upsets Mike Kimbel in Crazy Comeback appeared first on Cageside Press.

Bellator MMA was back in action, back in Connecticut, and back to pairing up Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov on Saturday night. Let’s hope Bellator 225 goes better than their first encounter, which ended with a Mitrione low blow, and Kharitonov writhing in pain on the ground. Just seconds into the fight.

Main event aside, big things were brewing at Bellator 225 on Saturday night. Four heavyweight bouts, including names like Tim Johnson, Vitaly Minakov, Tyrell Fortune, and of course the main event. A stacked preliminary card. The promotional debut of Nick Newell. The return of Austin Vanderford.

One fight day change did occur, as Tim Johnson was pulled from the prelims to replace Javy Ayala in the co-main event against former champion Vitaly Minakov. As a result, Azunna Anyanwu, Johnson’s original opponent, was removed from the card and will be scheduled for a later date.

Bellator 225: Mitrione vs. Kharitonov 2 – Live Tonight on Paramount & DAZN

Check below for full results from the preliminary portion of event! The prelims kick off at 5:45 PM ET! The Bellator 225 live stream featuring all the prelim action is also available above.

Bellator 225: Mitrione vs. Kharitonov 2 Preliminary Card Results

Welterweight Bout: Khonry Gracie def. Oscar Veraby submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 2:50
165-Pound Catchweight Bout: Aviv Gozali def. Eduard Muravitskiy by submission (heel hook), Round 1, 0:11
Welterweight Bout: Sabah Homasi def. Micah Terrill by knockout, Round 1, 0:17
Middleweight Bout: Austin Vanderford def. Joseph Creer by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2, 5:00
Bantamweight Bout: Ricky Bandejas def. Ahmet Kayretli by knockout, Round 1, 1:21
140-Pound Preliminary Bout: Chris Disonell def. Mike Kimbel by TKO, Round 1, 4:54
Lightweight Bout: Nick Newell def. Corey Browning by submission (arm triangle choke), Round 1, 3:15
165-Pound Preliminary Bout: Connor Dixon def. Kastriot Xhema by submission (arm-bar), Round 3, 2:08
175-Pound Preliminary Bout: Jon Manley def. Thiago Rela by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 4:47

The post Bellator 225: Mitrione vs. Kharitonov 2 Preliminary Card Live Stream and Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Over the past several years, Bellator MMA has become known as a prospect factory, adept at signing top wrestlers and other talented young fighters. Count Mike Kimbel among those. The Connecticut native, 3-1 as a pro to date, exploded onto the scene last year with with a slam finish at Bellator 194, then followed that up in his next fight with a six second knockout.

Returning at Bellator 225 this weekend, Kimbel described his journey in MMA to this point in rather poetic terms. “I would describe it as a treacherous beauty,” he told Cageside Press leading into his fight against Chris Disonell.

The treacherous part started early. Kimbel grow up in Waterbury, Connecticut, a rather rough place to be a child. To live in, period. Waterbury has a crime rate higher than 99% of the rest of the state. Living in Waterbury? You have a 1 in 200 chance of being the victim of violent crime.

Those sorts of statistics don’t bode well for any kid growing up there. When it comes to surviving Waterbury, Kimbel explained that “one, I got a good head on my shoulders. I’m very alert, I’m quick-witted.” That’s something his mom had instilled in him from an early age. “Two, I’ve had some loyal friends.” Then there’s the factor you just can’t control. “Three, probably the most important, I’ve been blessed, you know. I’ve just been blessed and I’ve always kept my faith strong. I’ve always had a vision and no matter what, no matter if I fell or I was walking, I fell forward, I move forward, I keep pushing, I keep going.”

While many fighters have had times throughout their careers where they question the path they’re on, Kimbel is in a slightly different situation, having made his debut in a top promotion. He’d always expected he’d have to get noticed on the local scene. “It turns out my pro debut was with one of the top organizations, and now I’m signed, and now I get to showcase my skills to the world. But even before that I had a lot of attention.”

So his most difficult time with his journey in MMA has “just been accepting it, accepting that I’m really that guy, accepting that I got these abilities, accepting it.” Kimbel has seen himself go “from a kid where people you know laughed at and I was told that I couldn’t do it so many times, to where, like people are praising me and my face is all over. It kind of punched me in my chest a little bit, it kicked me back a little bit. I was kind of like ‘whoa,’ you know, taken by surprise.”

Kimbel was once the kid watching others in front of the cameras, one he felt that “even in life” was “being second most of the time.” Fast forward a few years, and “now I’m in first place and everybody wants to talk to me and all of these cameras want to be in my face.”

His aggressive fighting style obviously got him noticed, but for Mike Kimbel, it’s something that has always come naturally. “Even when I would get into altercations and fight like that when I was younger,” he told us, “I’ve always been good with my hands, fast with my hands, hit hard, hit fast and get out, you know? So I kind of take that into the cage.”

It’s not just aggression, mind you. There’s no questioning Kimbel’s skill, despite being just 22 years old. “It’s either him or me but as I get a little bit more mature, like you said, I have real skill, I have real abilities.” Which means he’s learning to be patient, not always trying to immediately get opponents out of there. “I can set stuff up, I can think, because I’m way smarter than these guys. You can’t take my passion away from me, you know I’m so passionate, I love what I do in there. I’m giving the fight my heart, whether it be pain, it be joy, it be excitement. It’s so weird that Bruce Lee said it, and it’s truly how I feel — I just express myself when I go out there.”

Kimbel suffered his first setback against John Douma back in February. It was a first round submission loss, but having bounced back since, it still remains a learning experience.

“I wasn’t even disappointed in myself because I made the walk, but I was just a little pissed that I just f*cking gave it away,” Kimbel said of his first pro defeat. “You know, not for nothing I got caught up in him talking all of the sh*t he was talking and he was going to do this and do that. I lost my cool in the cage because I was upset with the fact of how much he was running and how timid and how p*ssy he was fighting.”

“You know, I get if he would just be like ‘you know its going to be a good fight blah blah I’m going to go out there and fight.’ I’d expect it but the way he was talking, I’m expecting him to really try and fight me and then it got a little aggravating,” Kimbel continued. “The card was itself already lackluster and I was like ‘I need to make something happen.'” Instead he wound up caught in a choke. “That’s why I say now, I fight now for myself. I don’t fight for the crowd because at the end of the day the victory is the most important.”

Even if he’s not fighting for the crowd, however, Mike Kimbel is fighting in a way that should please them. “I always go out there to put [an opponent] on his head, so I always go out to finish. I’m just calling a spade a spade, if I touch somebody on their head or on their chin they will fall or get rocked, I just hit very hard,” said Kimbel. “So I don’t really look for [the finish] but I know if I land it’s going to happen.”

In response to his first loss, “I took it as a lesson on both perspectives,” revealed Kimbel. “One perspective, it sounds cocky but it’s true. I am aware of how much of a threat and how much power I truly posses in that cage across from my adversary. They can say whatever they want but when we get into that cage my mind goes numb and they’re thinking ‘oh sh*t I got this dude in front of me right now.'” Once that point hits, it’s all about staying relaxed and maintaining composure. “If they want to run, play with them. Make them come or chase them but don’t chase too much.” Aside from those two areas, the other takeaway was dealing with “the lights, the cameras in my face. You know I’m not a morning person, they got me up at seven in the morning to do f*cking interviews and stuff like that. I’m like ‘yo dude I got to make weight, I got to train.’ Being on the main card and stuff like that, it was a good experience, there is nothing that I would change about it, it was a great experience and I’m fortunate for it.”

Kimbel bounced back in his next fight, a split decision win over Sebastian Ruiz at Bellator 222 in New York. Now, it’s on to Chris Disonell. “I’ve watched all of the tape that I could watch on him. You know he is a good opponent, he’s a tough competitor, he comes with intensity. I hope he brings that because I like that type of sh*t. But I’m prepared, you know, If something happens to him God forbid on Tuesday, to accept [another opponent] on Wednesday. I’m just training to be the best me.”

Kimbel is taking a wait and see approach in terms of how the fight plays out, mind you. “You know, I’m not sure. It could go one of two ways, he could come in with that intensity and that sh*t that he was talking and he could come, try to throw that and we’ll be in a real fight,” he suggested. “Or I’ll have to play it cool, set him up, pick him apart and then finish him with a big shot, or I make him panic wrestle, because he’s in there with a real threat and I submit him.” Ultimately, “there are so many ways that the fight could go that you never really know, but I do know that I am going to win.”

History by The Day by working over nights 🔪📈 @BellatorMMA never had a fighter billboarded off The iconic I-84 thanks to my team for getting it together! It humbles me knowing kids like me see this and go ohhhdreams are possible! Now it’s time to handle business👹🔪pop out📈☝🏽 pic.twitter.com/1guo2PgEqU

— Mike Kimbel (@kimbelmike) August 7, 2019

Just 22-years old, and Kimbel is not only fighting in a major promotion, but he’s featured on Billboards promoting him. “It makes me feel good, you know it’s an inspiring feeling. It’s a little unreal but it’s amazing you know, that an iconic billboard on the highway, there’s two of them actually, I’m on two billboards. To know that the kids and the people that I’ve spoken to and even people that I’ve said ‘yeah I’m going to be this’ and they’ve laughed at me or they’ve kinda been ‘yeah, whatever,’ they look and they’re like what, ‘whoa this kid is not playing.’

The crazy part, recognizes Kimbel, is how early in his career this has come. “I’m going on my fifth fight, I’ve already made history once and I’m making history again. I’m the first one on the billboard, I’m about to go make history in my state, because there has never been a show there before, it’s amazing, I can’t believe it.” If you’re confused about the making history part, Connecticut only just sanctioned mixed martial arts. Prior visits to the state all took part on Tribal lands, mainly at the Mohegan Sun. CES MMA held a show earlier this year, but Bellator’s trip will be the first time a major promotion has touched down since the state opened up. “I feel like I’m really the leader of the new generation. This is the GOAT generation, because every fighter in this generation can wrestle, they can box, they can kickbox, they got jiu-jitsu. So when I get crowned the king for this sh*t, I’m the best.”

Mike Kimbel returns this Saturday, August 24 at Bellator 225, going down at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The post Bellator 225: Mike Kimbel’s MMA Journey One of Treacherous Beauty appeared first on Cageside Press.

New York, NY — Raise your hand if you’ve had someone tell you that you won’t achieve your dreams. Be it a teacher, parent, friend, all too often, those who should be supportive try to drag us down. It’s not always intentional, and often, it’s well-meaning. Maybe they just want to soften the blow if you don’t make it. But it’s always rewarding to see the naysayers put in their place. Mike Kimbel got to do that Saturday following Bellator 222, where he picked up his third win as a professional mixed martial artist.

The win, a split decision, came against fellow prospect Sebastian Ruiz, out of Peru. Kimbel, who told reporters including Cageside Press that he felt “a little disrespected to be honest with the split decision,” recalled the high school teacher who doubted his MMA dreams

“I’m telling you guys – you guys can believe me now, or you can look stupid later: I’m the future, I swear to God. I told my teacher, I’ll never forget. I did a Power Point in my AP History class. It was around the time where MMA was getting legalized [in New York]. It was real popular, you had great martial artists like Aljamain Sterling, Chris Weidman, when they were walking the streets for the petitions and stuff like that.”

Just before MMA was legalized in the state in 2016, in other words. Four years or so ago. “It was basically a Power Point on why MMA should be legal,” Kimbel recalled of the presentation. “My teacher stops me and he goes ‘this is what you’re going to do?'”

Kimbel told him it was. He was already competing in amateur kickboxing at the time. That brought him some popularity in the school, and he saw a future in the sport, clearly. The teacher however asked why he was going to make such a presentation. “Because I love to do it,” Kimbel answered. “He goes, ‘so you think you’re going to make a living off of this?'” Kimbel admitted that his teenage self “was a little blown away, but I was like ‘yeah.'”

His teacher then replied by saying that “your odds of making a living off of that and getting into these organizations are my odds of getting into the NFL next week.”

Being frank, Kimbel’s teacher miscalculated the odds of a teenage kickboxer making it in MMA versus the odds of a middle-aged educator making it into the NFL on a week’s notice. Grossly miscalculated them. Kimbel, however, simply promised that, with all due respect, he’d prove the teacher wrong. Now, with a win in the most historic combat sports venue in North America, he has.

“I said I’m going to do this, and I’m doing that at 22, on the biggest stage, with probably the most pressure that any 22-year old could go through,” Kimbel exclaimed. “Training with the stars. Following some of the biggest names in the sport. My second fight, I couldn’t believe I was doing an interview with Ariel Helwani.”

Kimbel used to ask why he deserved these things. But eventually he came to the answer. “I deserve this because I earned this. Nothing’s ever been handed to me. As a matter of fact, everything has been against me for a long time. As you can see, I go out there and I showcase a good display of skills, and they split decision me. I’m never going to get handed anything.”

Besides, said Kimbel, “I would’ve discredited my camp and all the people that put in these hard couple months with me by going out there and just smoking somebody in a couple seconds.” Well, maybe not, but at least he got to put on a longer show. “I wanted to go out there and just showcase a little bit of everything,” he said. “It was fun, you know. I hit him with a right hand, first clean right hand, boom, split him. I told him ‘you’re leaking,’ he spit blood at me. I was like ‘ref, he spit blood at me!’ Then he tried to two-piece me! I’m like ‘oh, alright.’ He said something slick in Spanish, and I told him to hold my nuts.”

“It was cool in there, I had fun in there, I felt like I was back in school.” The only thing missing was a doubting teacher. Who is probably not exactly missed.

.Watch the full post-fight press scrum with Mike Kimbel from Bellator 222 above!

The post Bellator 222: With Win at MSG, Mike Kimbel Proved His Old AP History Teacher Wrong appeared first on Cageside Press.

Young bantamweight prospects on a stacked event as Mike Kimbel faces Sebastian Ruiz in a bantamweight clash on the Bellator 222 preliminary card.

Kimbel (2-1) enters the bout coming off his first defeat as a professional. The Connecticut fighter fell to John Douma by Triangle Choke in the first round at Bellator 215 last February (Kimbel spoke to us about that loss). Prior to that, the 22-year-old was coming off first-round knockout victories over Geoffrey Then and Alex Potts. The win over Potts took Kimbel just six seconds – one of the fastest knockouts in Bellator history.

Ruiz (2-2) also enters the bout coming off a loss in Canadian promotion TKO. Ruiz’s biggest moment so far is when he lost to former TKO champion Jesse Arnett for bantamweight gold back at TKO 43 in May of 2018. Ruiz managed to drop the champion and survive submission attempts several times before getting caught in a guillotine choke with seconds left in round two. However, that was Ruiz’s second fight and one of which he took on six-days notice. Ruiz currently has two victories in his career, both by head kick knockout.

Cageside Press will be at the event this evening, with interviews and coverage throughout the night.

Round 1:

Mike Kimbel charges forward early. Both men exchange kicks. Ruiz is looking for a teep kick. Kimbel lands a big right hand early but Ruiz clinches and pushes Kimbel against the fence. Time is called for a low blow landed on Kimbel. Action resumes in the middle as Ruiz lands a body kick and Kimbel aggressively charges forward. Kimbel now returns with a front kick to the midsection. Ruiz lands with a leg kick. Ruiz now attempts to land a left hand but misses. Kimbel doing well cutting off the cage but eats a right hand in doing so from Ruiz. Kimbel finds his range again with a jab, followed by a straight. Both men exchange hands in the pocket. Kimbel lands with an inside leg kick. Ruiz is now on the attack, but Kimbel stops his aggression with a double leg takedown. Ruiz is back up and after a few more bombs land, the round is over. We got a fight here.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Kimbel. 

Round 2:

Action is back underway as both men rush to the middle. Both guys exchange head kick attempts. Kimbel lands a leg kick but both are hesitant in round two so far. Ruiz lands his own leg kick in return. Both guys faintly heavily as Kimbel is no longer cutting of Ruiz, but following him. Ruiz lands a second low blow on Kimbel which the referee calls time for. Action resumes after Ruiz is warned. Kimbel now lands his own low blow and Ruiz is now using the time. Action is back underway as both men trade. Kimbel lands a right hand. Ruiz lands his head kick partially. Kimbel lands a kick and a right hand towards the end of the second.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Kimbel. 

Round 3:

Both men start off more aggressive in the third. Ruiz lands a nice right hand up close. Kimbel lands a stiff jab. Kimbel than lands a kick. Ruiz answers with his own front kick. Both men then exchange straight right hands. Kimbel looks high but lands low with the kick. Kimbel lands a big 1-2 combination. Ruiz enters back with his own looping right hand that just misses. Ruiz getting better aggressive after getting bloodied up with Kimbel’s right hand. Kimbel lands another big right hand, followed by a leg kick. Ruiz lands the front kick again, one of his favourite weapons. Kimbel lands a right hand as both men brawl towards the bell. Solid fight between two young prospects.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Kimbel (30-27 Kimbel)

Official Result: Mike Kimbel def. Sebastian Ruiz by Split Decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

Check out the full results from Bellator 222 here!

The post Bellator 222 Results: Mike Kimbel Takes Foul-Filled Fight Over Sebastian Ruiz appeared first on Cageside Press.

New York, NY — Returning on a stacked card at Bellator 222 this Friday is bantamweight prospect Mike Kimbel. Just 22 years old, Kimbel started his pro career in the big show, with a pair of first round knockouts. Among them, a record-setting six second knockout of Alex Potts at Bellator 207 last October.

They can’t all be knockouts, however. At Bellator 222, Kimbel (2-1) is coming off his first career loss. Still, he told Cageside Press at Wednesday’s media day, “life is great.”

When he was a teenager, Kimbel always wanted to be the best. To be the champ. Then, “life came in, and I couldn’t even really see myself making it past — when I turned 17, my 18th birthday came, I was like ‘there’s no way I’m going to make it to 19, I’m going to live it up 18.’ When I turned 19, I didn’t think that I would live to see 20.”

Once he hit 20, however, Kimbel made the hard decision to cut out a part of his life, including “my boys that I love, they go their way, I go my mine. Straight path.”

Life has been good since, he says. “Ever since I decided to go pro, life has been amazing. [Bellator 222] being at MSG, it’s just the cherry on the cake. World’s most famous arena. I get to rock the house. It’s going to be crazy.”

As for the loss last time out, to John Douma, Kimbel said that “you know New England MMA, from the amateur to the pros, it’s probably some of the most contested pool of them all. And he was ranked number 10 at bantamweight, and I was ragdolling him.” It was just when things were going good, however, that it fell apart. “So I bullied the bully in that fight, and I actually shook myself up a little bit, because I was like ‘hold up, there’s no way that this is going this way.’ And I actually got caught thinking for a moment and just threw it up there.”

Lesson learned. “I get to the mats, I grapple my ass off, I train my ass off, and I wrestle my ass off. Even my whole team they’re like ‘how the f*ck do you get caught like that?'” Kimbel recalled. “I was like ‘I couldn’t even tell you.’ I just learned to keep my composure and just work. Just work. Don’t be surprised in there, because I’m the apex in there. So why am I going to be surprised at how anything’s going? Because I train my ass off to make things look easy.”

“I learned to keep my composure, keep my cool, and let the fight play out,” he added. “It’s a long time that they’ve got to be in there with me for.”

Kimbel actually sees the loss as a feather in his cap. “The ways things have been moving, it’s almost like magical, almost unreal,” he said. And being keenly aware that he’s a role model for younger kids, including his little brother, he has found a silver lining in losing. “If they see wins, only wins and the way it’s been looking, like it’s magical, they’ll probably feel like I felt as a kid, like ‘that life is not obtainable, those people are there because those people are there,’ and not because you got to work for it. So being able to have a loss, on the world stage, to show the world, main card, on TV, everybody seen it, now I get to show them that this game is a game of centimeters. Not feet, not inches.”

It’s a healthy approach to losing, no doubt.

Curiously, despite being a New England native (from Connecticut), Kimbel gets his share of grief from fans in the area, at least outside of his home state. While underscoring that he’s not making comparisons, Kimbel noted that “They laughed at Einsteain. I’m sure they doubted Abraham Lincoln. They probably laughed at [Michael] Jordon. They probably made fun of Lebron [James].” Tom Brady, the list goes on.

“Me personally, I have no idea. I show up to fight, I train, and I just be me. You know what’s crazy about the whole New England area, they say New England MMA, or New England versus everybody. But Connecticut is New England! But I’m to the point where it’s like f*ck it all, it’s CT versus everybody!”

He feels, at least to some extent, that a bit of jealousy might be at play. “This is a serious thing,” he began. “When I was coming up, people weren’t recording videos, people weren’t representing area codes, a dude could be from an hour away, and he’s representing where he’s from an hour away, he wasn’t repping his home town.”

“Now you’ve got these dudes putting their area codes in their bios,” Kimbel continued, “you’ve got people fronting themselves, talking like me, and it’s like, you guys all dislike me, but yet you’re trying to portray yourself as me. So maybe you dislike me because you can’t be me? Because i don’t want to be like anybody. I just want to be the best me, and provide a wonderful life for myself and my loved ones.”

The next step in providing just that comes Friday at Bellator 222. His opponent, Sebastian Ruiz, is a young prospect out of Peru. “I feel like it’s a great match-up. Another tough one,” Kimbel observed. “That’s another thing. These guys pad their records. Not me. I’m in the shark tank, straight up. I’m excited, personally. He’s got very good Muay Thai, he’s never been knocked out. He’s young, he’s younger than me. And he’s very tenacious. It’s a fun fight, man but I’m just going to go get the job done.”

Bellator 222 takes place Friday, June 14 at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.

The post Bellator 222: Mike Kimbel Found Silver Lining in First Pro Loss appeared first on Cageside Press.

In a fight designed to put the spotlight on a prospect coming off a big win, Michael Kimbel faced off against John Douma early on the Bellator 215 main card. At just 21 years old Kimbel had been explosive so far in his career — with two first round finishes, the second coming in just six seconds at Bellator 207. Douma, meanwhile, a CES alum, was also young in his career, but making his Bellator debut off his first loss as a pro.

Despite a booking that seemed to put the spotlight on one fight, the story did not go according to plan in the end.

Kimbel went right after the finish with a high kick that missed, which put the fight past six seconds, but certainly announced his intent. A leg kick followed, and Kimbel was clearly on the hunt, Douma backpedaling out of harm’s way at times. A spinning kick from Kimbel missed as Douma ducked under, then initiated the clinch. It was Kimbel getting the fight down, however, landing in his opponent’s guard. Up quick, but with Kimbel in control and taking it right back to the canvass. Douma looked for a triangle, or arm-bar, only to be slammed down by Kimbel.

😲💪@JohnDouma145 is your winner at #Bellator215 via triangle!

Watch the main card LIVE now on @ParamountNet and simulcast on @DAZN_USA. pic.twitter.com/Osvhnn6Izp

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 16, 2019

Yet Douma did not let go of the submission attempt, despite essentially being dropped on his head. Kimbel landed some shots to the head, still trapped, but moments later, was tapping for the first loss of his career.

John Douma def. Mike Kimbel by submission (triangle), Round 1, 2:51

The post Bellator 215 Results: John Douma Submits Michael Kimbel In Upset appeared first on Cageside Press.

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.

The post Bellator 207: Hometown Kid Mike Kimbel Makes Good in Six Seconds appeared first on Cageside Press.