WATCH: Freak Injury to Murthel Groenhart Leads to a Knockout Loss Against Cedric Doumbe

Glory Kickboxing put on a stacked card for their PPV event, Glory 77. The heavyweight title tournament headlined the card. Rico Verhoeven won the final fight and earned the crown of the Glory Kickboxing world heavyweight champion. The card also featured the highly touted Cedric Doumbe as he took on Murthel Groenhart. 

This was the third meeting between the two men. In their first fight in 2016, Doumbe secured an impressive unanimous decision win. Groenhart made it one win a piece when he secured a split decision win in August 2017. 

After a few cancelations, the two men finally stepped into the ring to settle the trilogy. It was Doumbe who had the last laugh as he walked away with the win. In the process, he defended his welterweight belt for the third time with the promotion. 

Read: WATCH: Dana White meets Khabib Nurmagomedov for the first time 

Did the fall hamper Groenhart against Cedric Doumbe?

Going into the fight there a lot of animosity between both men. There was also a lot on the line, including a belt and trilogy bragging rights. Doumbe said that he would stop his foe in the second round, and he did precisely that. 

Groenhart was backed up against the corner. As he was about to throw a left hook, Doumbe came over the top with a right hand that landed flush on the temple. The shot knocked Murthel down to the floor. Although he did stand up during the 10-second countdown, the referee deemed it fit to stop the fight. 

However, before the knockout, Groenhart attempted a flying knee as Doumbe was backed up against the ropes. Cedric moved out of the way and his adversary went over the top rope and landed on the apron. The impact of the fall was entirely on Groenhart’s back, and it was visible that he was in excruciating pain. 

He was knocked out shortly after he was back in the ring and able to fight. There is a very good chance that he was not able to recover fully from the fall, which surely impacted his performance for the fight.

Nevertheless, the champion did what he had to do and secured an impressive third straight title defense via stoppage.