Senegalese wrestling champion Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane suffered his first professional loss on Thursday night at ONE on TNT 4, but it did not come without controversy.
Kane fought fellow undefeated heavyweight Kirill Grishenko on the main portion of the card. It was a tough fight for the Senegalese sensation, who tried his best to get Grishenko to the ground, but the Belarusian thwarted any and all takedown attempts. They spent a lot of time in the clinch and that is where the final sequence of the fight played out.
Kane pressed Grishenko up against the cage with just seconds left in the second round. They separated and Grishenko connected with a right hand to the throat of Kane as the bell sounded. Kane quickly protested to the referee, but fell to the canvas in pain.
Kane could not answer the bell for the start of the third round, so Grishenko was declared the victor by way of technical knockout. It was a bizarre ending and one that Kane intends on correcting as he announced on social media that he and his team will be appealing the loss.
Reug Reug had taken to social media to underline his intentions to appeal last night’s loss. According to the post, the shot that he was hit with after the bell left him “incapacitated” and unable to continue. pic.twitter.com/BRRX0OKBtQ
— Peter Carroll (@PetesyCarroll) April 29, 2021
“My team will be appealing the decision of the fight to correctly make it a No Contest,” wrote Kane on Instagram (H/T Peter Carroll). “I was clearly struck after the bell, where I was hit, incapacitated and I was unable to continue in the contest.
“My hope is to rematch my opponent and decide a winner within [three] rounds.”
There is no word on whether ONE will consider the request of Kane, but it is still too early to say. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong addressed the situation during his post-fight press conference with assembled media.
“It was a very disappointing fight overall, and a very disappointing ending,” said Sityodtong. “I’m not sure what exactly happened or what was going on in Reug Reug’s mind, but he said he was truly hurt. But the blow was at the bell, so it wasn’t an illegal blow. He said it was after the bell so we had to check the tape and yeah.
“It didn’t look particularly like a hard punch, but again, these things at weird angles can still inflict damage so I don’t know. I haven’t got an update on Reug Reug’s situation right now.”
As it stands right now, Kane sees his overall record move to 3-1.
About the author
