It had been a minute since Michael Page stepped back into the winner’s circle, but he managed to do it in just 26 seconds of the first round of his fight against Goiti Yamauchi in the opening fight of the Bellator 292 main card.
From the jump, Page came out light on his feet as is customary for him. 26 seconds later, Page landed the first big shot of the fight by landing a low kick right on Yamauchi’s kneecap, which forced him to drop down to the canvas in pain. Soon thereafter, the referee was calling for an end to the fight because Yamauchi was not able to continue.
Once the replay was available, the injury was very apparent as soon as the kick landed. Thankfully, Page didn’t go in and land further unnecessary punishment once he realized his foe could no longer continue.
While the injury is unfortunate, credit has to be given to Page because it was, after all, the perfectly-placed shot that earned him the first-round knockout win, his first such victory in two years. The win likely earned “Venom” a shot at Yaroslav Amosov, while Yamauchi could be on the sidelines for an extended period of time once we get a better idea of the extent of his injury.
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