Bellator 245 is in the books and unfortunately, the main card opener left plenty to be desired. The former kickboxing specialist in Raymond Daniels landed two illegal groin strikes on his opponent, Peter Stanonik. The fight went down as a no-contest due to the severity of the punishment absorbed, although the blows seemed unintentional.
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The first illegal strike caused a break in the action and Stanonik utilized the five-minute recovery time afforded to fighters. Not long after, a second blow sent Peter Stanonik wincing towards the canvas and referee Jason Herzog called the fight. Additionally, Stanonik left the cage on a stretcher, further solidifying the magnitude of the low-blows.
Horrible. pic.twitter.com/B0rVGe0y4y
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) September 12, 2020
Shit. This is horrifying. They’re bringing out the stretcher. #Bellator245 pic.twitter.com/TrtkV6LD5F
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) September 12, 2020
Eye-pokes and Groin strikes are not uncommon in MMA. However, the frequency of their occurrence in high-level competition has increased. Fight fans and media members alike have pushed the larger narrative to surround illegal strikes and have called for regulation and intervention.
Bellator 245: Raymond Daniels vs Peter Stanonik
Following the debacle that was the main card opener, Daniels spoke out to the media and touched on the contentious issue. He apologized to his opponent and also explained his thought process.
“I hope my opponent Peter is OK,” Daniels told MMA Junkie after the fight. “Obviously I never mean to hit anybody with any type of low blows, or any time you knock a person out or down, obviously, I want them to be OK, so I hope that he is OK.”
Daniels also spoke out on the fateful technique that causes the end to the highly anticipated contest. He believes in his technique and explained to the media in attendance as to the lethal nature of the spin kick.
“The spin kick is the hardest technique to throw in all of the combat sports. My spin kick is my bazooka, my greatest grenade launcher, whatever you want to call it. It can end things in an instant wherever it lands. Unfortunately, it landed in the wrong vicinity, I hope he’s OK, like I said, I never want to hurt my opponents in that way where they have to get carried off or anything like that.”
Fight fans will hope that such occurrences see a significant drop-off as time progresses. Certain marquee match-ups do not come to fruition simply due to mismanaged techniques as displayed in the aforementioned fight.
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Also Watch- Bellator 245: Raymond Daniels post-interview
