An unusual event, to say the least, marked the Cage Contender 18 event, held last weekend in Northern Ireland, and caught the attention of the MMA world. The penultimate fight on the preliminary card ended in less than a second and without any of the athletes landing a single blow. How was this possible? As soon as the fight was authorized by the referee, Northern Irishman Alex McCook hit the ground three times as a sign of withdrawal, leaving his opponent, the Welshman, James Gallagher, and the audience was perplexed.
Shortly after the fight, Gallagher went on social media and stated that his opponent had claimed that he felt pain in the chest area. Furthermore, the young athlete released the video of the fight and defined McCook's attitude as ridiculous, making a point of directing the content to the main British names in MMA - such as UFC fighter Connor McGregor, coach John Kavanagh and TUF participants 19 Chris Fields and Cathal Pendred.
Subsequently, however, the Welshman appears to have regretted his reaction and apologized to his rival. “I have said a lot of things in the last few days out of anger and frustration, showing me not as positive as I am. I just want to apologize to my opponent and say that I hope he gets well and returns to training soon. Stepping into a ring, in front of thousands of people, is one of the hardest things I've ever done”, he published on his official profile on Facebook. Another curious fact is that the fight goes to Gallagher's record as a submission, as his opponent gave up.
Check out the video of the incredible fight between James Gallagher and Alex McCook:
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