Jon Fitch had a disasterous debut in the main event of World Series Of Fighting 3 last night as he was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman in the opening minute of the fight.
Fitch got dropped by a left-right hook combination as he pushed forward aggressively at the start of the fight and Burkman then moved in and set up a guillotine choke.
Rising back to his feet Fitch didn’t appear overly concerned about the choke and instead opted to attempt a takedown. He couldn’t get it though and instead Burkman dropped back to the mat with the choke in tight.
Fitch started an attempt to break free, but then went limp. The referee didn’t stop the fight though and so credit to Burkman who rolled on top and then simply let go of the choke and stood up with his hand raised victorious over his unconscious opponent with just 41 seconds on the clock.
It’s a remarkable result for the former TUF Season 2 competitor, handing him the biggest and most impressive win of his career and extended his unbeaten streak to five fights. He also avenges a rear-naked choke loss to Fitch dating back to ‘UFC Fight Night 4’ in 2006.
On the other hand this was a nightmare result for Fitch who’s recent record now stands at a lowly 1-3-1. That’s almost unthinkable for a fighter who at one stage produced a 13-1 record inside the UFC’s Octagon with his only defeat coming by decision to long-time champion GSP.
Long injury layoffs and a 12 second KO loss to Johny Hendricks appear to have taken their toll on the 35 year-old and he’s no longer the formidable force he once was.
Elsewhere on the card another former UFC fighter Jacob Volkmann had a more successful start to his run in WSOF, earning a decision win over Lyle Beerbohm, while Steve Carl submitted Tyson Steele in 92 seconds and Justin Gaethje stopped Brian Cobb in the third round with leg kicks.
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Main Card:
Josh Burkman def. Jon Fitch by Technical Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:41, R1
Steve Carl def. Tyson Steele by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:32, R1
Jacob Volkmann def. Lyle Beerbohm by Unanimous Decision, R3
Justin Gaethje def. Brian Cobb by TKO (Leg Kicks) at 2:19, R3
Preliims:
Jerrod Sanders def. Jeff Smith by Unanimous Decision, R3
Dan Lauzon def. John Gunderson by Unanimous Decision, R3
Carson Beebe def. Joe Murphy by Unanimous Decision, R3
Krasimir Mladenov def. Kendrick Miree by Unanimous Decision, R3
Branson Hansen def. Josh Montalvo by Unanimous Decision, R3
