Exclusive video obtained by Fajador.co shows the Spanish fighter being poked in the eye while clinching with his opponent, Oussama Assli, at Thursday’s Karate Combat 51 event
Michel “La Furia” Martinez (0-1 Karate Combat, 4-0 MMA) had high hopes of making a successful debut in Karate Combat in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Those aspirations abruptly came to an end, though, after his fight with Oussama Assli (2-0 Karate Combat) was stopped by the referee on account of a grounded Martinez taking punishment from Assli, who was standing over Martinez.
The 35-year-old Martinez and Assli, who hails from Morocco, exchanged blows in the first few seconds of the fight before clinching.
The fighters fell to the ground and were quickly stood up by the referee.
While tangling in the clinch again, Assli tossed Martinez to the mat and proceeded to throw punches to the side of Martinez’s head while standing over Martinez.
The referee stepped in and stopped the contest at the 1:06 mark of the first round after deciding that Martinez could no longer defend himself, and Assli was declared the winner by way of technical knockout.
After making his way to his feet, though, Martinez immediately protested the decision with the referee, urging the referee to consider an alleged foul on the part of Assli. It was to no avail, however.
Martinez and his coach, Jose Jimenez, have stated that they plan to protest the outcome of the fight with the Florida Athletic Commission due to Martinez sustaining an eye poke from Assli.
The live YouTube stream of the fight did not show any kind of foul on the part of Assli:
However, Fajador.co has since gotten a hold of a video shot by another camera inside the venue.
The video clearly shows an eye poke by Assli while the two fighters were wrestling in the clinch early in the fight, before going to the ground and, then, being stood up by the referee:
“I lost my vision in one eye,” Martinez told Fajador.co., “and the referee stood us back up without taking any action regarding my condition. The fight resumed while I was unable to see at all.”
Martinez continued, “I grabbed my opponent to prevent him from striking me, since I had no vision.”
It was during the period that Martinez claims he had no vision that the two fighters engaged in a clinch again, before Martinez went to the ground and was hit by Assli’s finishing punches.
Jimenez also spoke about the events that took place during the fight.
“Michel protested the strikes, but the referee ended the fight as if my fighter had been legitimately finished,” Jimenez said.
Fajador.co will be following this story and updating you as it develops.
