Video: Veteran MMA fighter fakes injury, later taps out despite nearly winning by TKO
A faked injury. A near finish. An essential forfeit in the cage.
On Saturday night, grizzled MMA veterans Travis Fulton and Johnathan Ivey met for a heavyweight title at Colosseum Combat 45 in Kokomo, Ind. And the proceedings could not have gotten more bizarre.
In the first round, Ivey faked like he was about to keel over after a body kick, gripping his chest and stumbling. But then it quickly became obvious he was using it as a diversion, throwing a quick right hand and following up with a blitz that dropped Fulton.
Ivey pounced and landed ground and pound that would have more than likely eventually finished a prone Fulton. But then Ivey stopped, got off his foe and, seconds later, tapped out on the mat, essentially forfeiting the bout.
So to recap.. Johnathan Ivey fakes a heart attack, drops Travis Fulton, proceeds to follow up with GNP... then decides he can't punch his idol in the face anymore and taps out. #mmathings pic.twitter.com/grK54YhOe0
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) July 1, 2018
Ivey, 42, is a regional MMA mainstay, sporting a professional record of 41-57. The Tennessee native began his career in 1998 and has fought the likes of Ken Shamrock, Jeremy Horn, Travis Wiuff, Dan Severn and Ricco Rodriguez. Ivey fought Fulton once before way back in 2002, losing by submission.
Fulton, 41, is even more cage seasoned than Ivey. He has a ridiculous 320 pro fights, a record of 256-54-10 with 1 no contest. The Iowa native has been fighting since 1996 and has been in there with the likes of Horn, Severn (five times), Matt Lindland, Ikuhisa Minowa, Heath Herring, Evan Tanner, Forrest Griffin, Ben Rothwell, Joe Riggs, Jason Miller and Andrei Arlovski.
