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 MMA fans were stunned when EliteXC's superstar Kimbo Slice was KO'd in just 14 seconds Saturday night (October 4) by a last minute replacement for an injured Ken Shamrock.
Earlier in the day, Shamrock suffered a cut over his left eye that officials ruled was bad enough to keep the veteran MMA fighter from stepping into the cage in Florida Saturday. Instead, Seth Petruzelli -- who was supposed to fight on an undercard stepped up to fill in, and he didn't disappoint.
When the bell rang, Kimbo charged across the cage at Petruzelli, who backed against the cage on the defense. Using a right straight kick, the black and pink haired fighter was able to smother a right hook attempt by Kimbo and catch him with a short straight right to the street fight legend's face.
Kimbo immediately fell to the mat, and Petruzelli pummeled him with a flurry of rights and lefts before the referee stepped in to call the bout.
Despite being outweighed by 19 pounds, Petruzelli took the chance and came out on top before a sell-out crowd of 9,400. The loss is Kimbo's first as a professional MMA fighter, dropping to 3-1, while Petruzelli improved to 10-4.
(Watch the fight here at YouTube.com)
While Petruzelli acknowledged, after the fight, that the situation was "crappy" for both fighters, referring to their pre-training in which they prepared for different opponents, he said it was a chance he's been waiting for.
"It was an opportunity to step up," Petruzelli said, following the fight. "This is something I wanted all my life."
Kimbo, with a cut over his left eye, took the loss in stride.
"It's all good," said Slice. "It was unexpected, but it's all good." He continued by saying the afterparty was still taking place, and ignored further questions by the EliteXC interview, walked out of the cage, and gave the crowd a shrug before heading backstage.
The other main event was between the sport's most recognizable female fighter Gina Carano and Kelly Kobold.
Carano controlled the action for the most, only ending up on her back near the end of the second round. She spent much of the fight utilizing her reach and polished Muay Thai skills, slamming Kobold with a number of hard punches, knees and kicks throughout all three rounds.
In a unanimous decision all three judges scored the bout for Carano who improved to 7-0, while her opponent fell to 16-3.
However, Carano said Kobold was her toughest fight to date. Her next potential match could be a long-awaited bout against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. When asked if that's who she wants next, she replied, "If that's what they put in front of me."
On the undercard, Cyborg punished Yoko Takahashi for three rounds, earning a unanimous decision, improving to 6-1 with the victory.
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