Veteran fighter Johnathan Ivey faked a heart attack but failed to beat seasoned warrior Travis Fulton on Saturday at Colosseum Combat 45 in Indiana.
Fulton improved to 256 wins, 54 draws, and 10 losses with one no contest while Ivey dropped to 41 wins and 57 losses. It was the second match between both fighters who first fought in 2002 where the former beat the latter via submission.
Bizarre MMA Fight
Fulton started the match aggressively as he unleashed a strong body kick that stunned Ivey in the opening round. Minutes later, Ivey seemingly lost control of his body as he appeared to be holding his chest while trying to survive in the match. Just when his opponent thought that Ivey was going down for good, the 42-year-old surprised the crowd as he threw a massive right to Fulton that knocked the latter out into the ground.
Ivey continued to throw a series of punches to his opponent and was close to beating Fulton before the unthinkable happened. Moments after inflicting punishment on Fulton, Ivey backed away from his opponent and shocked the crowd by tapping out, thus losing the bout.
Match announcers were also surprised with Ivey's actions, questioning the physical condition of the fighter. Although there is no clear reason as to why he tapped out, sources close to the situation say that Ivey decided to give up rather than beat one of his role models. Ivey who is a huge fan of Fulton has a tattoo of the latter on his leg.
"Ivey said he didn't want to hit his idol in the face anymore. About the weirdest thing ever in a cage," the source revealed.
Ivey who hails from Tennessee has been competing in the MMA since 1998. He has been in the ring with accomplished fighters such as Ricco Rodriguez, Jeremy Horn, Ken Shamrock, Travis Wiuff, and Dan Severn.
On the other hand, Fulton is a household name in the industry and has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 20 and UFC 21 in 1999. The Iowa fighter started his career in 1996 and is most notably known for his in-ring rivalry with Severn. Fulton and Severn battle each other five times in their career.
Besides Severn, the 41-year-old Fulton has also gone up against Heath Herring, Evan Tanner, Joe Riggs, Matt Lindland, Andrei Arlovski, Jason Miller, Ben Rothwell, Ikuhisa Minowa, and Forrest Griffin. Fulton has been living most his life inside the squared ring with a total number of 320 bouts.
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