Norman Parke would be forgiven for not wanting to step inside the cage to fight Mateusz Gamrot again.
In the two fights Norman Parke has had with Mateusz Gamrot, the Northern Irishman has had both eyes poked, his finger bitten and his groin kicked.
Their first meeting ended in a contentious unanimous decision win for the KSW lightweight champion, with many folks thinking Parke had done enough to get the nod.
The rematch in Dublin was even more controversial. It was called off in the second round as a No Contest after Parke was unable to continue following his second eye-poke of the night. He was also punched by an opposition cornerman after the official decision.
From very early on, it was clear that this was going to be a dirty fight. Gamrot’s thunderous groin kick really was a sign of things to come.
Here's that awful groin kick @norman_parke ate in the first round. #KSW40 #KSWDublin pic.twitter.com/sR9nolA6Pa
— Ben Kiely (@TheJivemaster) October 23, 2017
As it headed towards the closing stages of the first frame, Gamrot committed his second foul of the night.
He held his fingers up towards the sky as Parke pressed forward, then dug them into the right eye of his opponent as he pushed him away. Parke required a quick breather to compose himself but was able to soldier on into the next round.
And here's the eye-poke in the first round #KSW40 #KSWDublin pic.twitter.com/7WF9GtSorW
— Ben Kiely (@TheJivemaster) October 23, 2017
In the second round, we had the fight-ending blow. Unfortunately, this was another foul from Gamrot.
This time, it was Parke’s left eye that was pushed back into his skull by the Polish fighter’s fingertips. The slow-motion replay showed why he fell down to the canvas in agony and wasn’t fit enough to continue.
Had he lasted the extra 21 seconds until the end of the round, it would have gone to the judges’ scorecards. Instead, it was written off as a No Contest meaning their beef, for now, remains unsettled.
The eye poke from Gamrot that ended the fight #KSW40 pic.twitter.com/f7hKZPuXhP
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 22, 2017
Following the KSW 40 event, Parke sent out a statement in Instagram suggesting that the second eye-poke was intentional. He claimed that Gamrot pulled a fast one to end the fight early as he was starting to tire and lose momentum before thanking the fans for showing their support.
The statement was accompanied by a selfie which showed the extent of the damage he incurred from the eye-pokes, head clashes and strikes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BakjBO3FIclpudpgvPPjceF278dCL41vLJTMPk0/?hl=en&taken-by=stormin_norman155
