Darrion Caldwell (Photo/Bellator)The former Wolfpack mat champ suffered his first loss of his professional MMA career when he was submitted in the opening seconds of the third round of his top-of-the-card bout at Bellator 159 at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas Friday night.
Joe Taimanglo applied a guillotine choke on Caldwell nine seconds into Round 3 of their bantamweight (135-pound) bout in what MMAJunkie described as a "shocking submission win."
According to the MMA website Sherdog.com, "Caldwell controlled virtually all 10 minutes of the first two rounds, utilizing takedowns and suffocating top control to corral the former Pacific Xtreme Combat champion."
Here's how LowKickMMA.com described the end of what it had described as "a fun fight": "In round 3, Caldwell took him down to begin the round but was caught by Taimanglo, who locked in a guillotine choke for the win."
MMAJunkie.com provided a bit more detail of that very brief last round: "In the third, Caldwell shot from distance but couldn't get hold of the legs. Taimanglo took advantage of his one opportunity, wrapping up the neck and falling to his back. Squeezing hard in full guard, Taimanglo forced the frustrated Caldwell to tap for his first professional loss, just nine seconds into the final round."
After the match, Caldwell posted the following on Instagram: "Tonight he was the better man. Still smiling because I know this just the beginning. Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the support!"
With this first loss, Caldwell, who launched his pro MMA career in September 2012, falls to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Bellator ... while the veteran Taimanglo improves to 23-6-1, with a 6-2 record in Bellator bouts.
Prior to entering MMA competition, Caldwell was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American at N.C. State, winning the 149-pound title at the 2009 NCAAs in what the late amateur wrestling historian Jay Hammond considered to be one of the three biggest upsets in NCAA finals history. Caldwell was named Outstanding Wrestler for that tournament.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now