Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane has fallen for the first time in his MMA career… but it wasn’t the most traditional of bout endings.
Opening up the ONE on TNT 4 main card, Reug Reug took on Kirill Grishenko. At the end of the second round, the unbeaten Senegalese wrestling sensation absorbed a punch to the throat that forced him unable to continue. Thus resulting in a TKO loss.
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Generally very capable of manhandling his opponents with relative ease, Kane struggled to get Grishenko to the floor outside of a late first-round takedown.
Finding control against the cage was where Reug Reug had his most success with Grishenko getting off shots when at distance. On the break of a clinch, Grishenko swung and landed below the chin to the neck and throat area as Reug Reug fell to the floor telling the referee the strike was after the bell, said commentary.
Ultimately, Kane has fallen to 3-1 (2-1 in ONE Championship). In his first two bouts in the promotion, the 29-year old blitzed and crushed his foes with brute force in the opening round. With plenty of hype behind him, Kane was already being touted as a possible title challenger to current champion Brandon Vera.
As for Grsihenko, it was his ONE Championship debut and he extended his record to 4-0. If we’ll end up getting a rematch between the two heavyweight behemoths remains to be seen. But because of the somewhat controversial nature of the finish, and it being Kane’s first loss, it wouldn’t be all too shocking.
It’s just par for the course that the first run of ONE on TNT events would end with something odd taking place as at the first event we saw Eddie Alvarez get disqualified for strikes to the back of the head.